

Scientists Comb Hives for Mite-Resistant
Honey BeesBy Marcia
Wood December 7, 1999Beekeepers can produce and maintain
colonies of domesticated honey bees that are resistant to varroa mites, one of
the insects' worst enemies, according to nearly five years of tests by
Agricultural Research Service scientists
in Tucson, Ariz. Varroa mites are eight-legged, blood- sucking parasites that
have decimated hives of the domesticated honey bee, Apis mellifera, in
nearly every state. Eric H. Erickson of the ARS Carl
Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson led the Arizona study, in which about
190,000 bees were analyzed. The scientists populated three research apiaries
with survivor bees from Arizona hives not treated with mite-killing chemicals
called miticides. To see if the colonies would become naturally infested, the
scientists kept the hives free of the miticides. Then, the researchers
determined whether the bees had been attacked by mites. Colonies of susceptible
bees were removed and replaced with progeny from the mite-tolerant colonies.
The test hives averaged only 7 mites per 100 bees at the end of about four
years of this selective breeding. In some years, some hives were mite free. The ARS experiment, reported in the December 1999 issue of the American Bee Journal, provides
more evidence that beekeepers and breeders can keep hives relatively free of
mites through selective breeding to populate apiaries with mite-tolerant stock.
The scientists recommend that beekeepers regularly inspect their colonies for
mite resistance and then select queens--for breeding--from the colonies with
the lowest mite populations. Some beekeepers and breeders are already doing
this. And scientists in Germany and Russia, for instance, have also found
Apis mellifera hives that are naturally resistant to the mites. Erickson did the work with
Anita H.
Atmowidjojo of the University of
Arizona and commercial beekeeper Lenard H. Hines of Sierra Vista, Ariz.
According to Erickson, it is relatively easy to find varroa-tolerant colonies
in commercial hives and to produce and maintain varroa-tolerant honey bees. Currently, miticides are the principal control. The new findings offer
beekeepers another new option for strengthening their hives' mite resistance.
What's more, ARS announced in August that mite-tolerant queens, descended from
honey bees the agency imported from Russia, would be commercially available
next year. ARS scientists in Baton Rouge, La., led by
Thomas E.
Rinderer, imported and tested the mite-tolerant Russian honey bees. The Agricultural Research Service is USDA's chief research agency. Scientific contact: Eric H.
Erickson, ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, 200 East Allen Rd., Tucson,
AZ 85719, phone (520) 670-6481, ext. 104, fax (520) 670-6493,
[email protected], and Thomas
E. Rinderer, ARS
Honey Bee
Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Unit, 1157 Ben Hur Rd., Baton
Rouge, LA 70820, phone (225) 767-9280, fax (225) 766-9212,
[email protected]. Story contacts Marcia A Wood U.S. Department of Agriculture | |