Assessing virulence of Varroa destructor mites from different honey bee management regimes.

ABSTRACT: The mite Varroa destructor is an important honey bee parasite that causes substantial losses of honey bee colonies worldwide. Evolutionary theory suggests that the high densities at which honey bees are managed in large-scale beekeeping settings will likely select for mites with greater growth and virulence, thereby potentially explaining the major damage done by these mites. We tested this hypothesis by collecting mites from feral bee colonies, "lightly" managed colonies (those from small-scale sedentary operations), and "heavily" managed colonies (those from large-scale operations that move thousands of colonies across the US on a yearly basis). We established 8 apiaries, each consisting of 11 colonies from a standardized lightly managed bee background that were cleared of mites, and art

SUBMITTER: Dynes TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7175645 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature