A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DIAGNOSTIC METHODS FOR DETECTION OF VARROA DESTRUCTOR INFESTATION LEVEL IN HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFERA) COLONIES

About authors:

Dobrynin N. D., Voronezh State Agricultural University, Michurina st. 1, 394087 Voronezh, Russia
Colombo M., University of Milan, Via Celoria, 2, 20133 Milan, ItalY
Eördegh F. R., University of Milan, Via Celoria, 2, 20133 Milan, Italy

Annotation:

The main methods for detection of infestation level of parasitic mite Varroa destructor in honey bee colonies were studied. The methods using vivo evaluation are more sparing for bees but less precise; those using evaluation with the killing of bees or brood are the most precise but less sparing for bees. The indirect method of evaluation of mite infestation by sampling the natural mortality of mite is the most sparing but not as precise as the previous ones, though the correlation between the rate of infestation of adult bees and natural mortality of mites is strong. The natural mortality of 1mite/24-hours corresponds to the presence of about 160 mites on bees per colony.

Bibliography:

Allen, M.F., Ball, B.V., White, R.F., and Antoniw, J.F.
1986. The detection of acute paralysis virus in
Varroa jacobsoni by the use of a simple indirect
ELISA. J. Apic. Res., 25: 100–105.

Anderson, D.L. and Fuchs, S. 1998. Two genetically
distinct populations of Varroa jacobsoni with con-
trasting reproductive abilities on Apis mellifera. J.
Apic. Res., 37: 69–78.

Anderson, D.L. and Trueman, J.W.H. 2000. Varroa ja-
cobsoni (Acari: Varroidae) is more than one spe-
cies. Exp. Appl. Acarol., 24 (3): 165–189.

Atienza, J., Jimenez, J.J., Bernal, J.L., and Martin, M.T.
1993. Supercritical fluid extraction of fluvalinate
residues in honey. Determination by high-perfor-
mance liquid chromatography. J. Chromat.
Biomed. Appl., 655: 95–99.

Barlow, V.M. and Fell, D.R. 2009. Sampling methods
for Varroa mites on the domesticated honeybee.
Virginia State University, Virginia Cooperative
Extension Publication: 444–103.

Boot, J.W., Tan, N.Q., Dien, P.C., Huan, L.V., Dung,
N.V., Long, L.T., and Beetsrna, J. 1997. Repro-
ductive success of Varroa jacobsoni in brood of its
original host, Apis cerana, in comparison to that
of its new host, A. mellifera (Hymenoptera: Api-
dae). Bull. Entomol. Res., 87: 119–126.

Borrello, S.A., Consolino, F., Floridi and Verticchio, L.
2009. Sindrome dello spopolamento degli alveari
e prodotti fitosanitari impiegati nella concia delle
sementi: provvedimenti nazionali adotttati.
APOidea, 6: 30–34.

Branco, M.R., Kidd, N.A.C. and Pickard, R. 2006. A
comparative evaluation of sampling methods for
Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) population
estimation. Apidologie, 37: 452–461.

Calatayud, F. and Verdu, M.J. 1993. Hive debris counts
in honeybee colonies: a method to estimate the
size of small populations and rate of growth of the
mite Varroa jacobsoni Oud. (Mesostigmata: Var-
roidae). Exp. Appl. Acarol., 17: 889–894.

Calderone, N.W. 1999. Evaluating subsampling meth-
ods for estimating numbers of Varroa jacobsoni
mites (Acari: Varroidae) collected on sticky
boards. J. Econ. Entomol., 92: 1057–1061.

Chauzat, M.P. and Faucon, J.P. 2007. Pesticide residues
in beeswax samples collected from honey bee col-
onies (Apis mellifera L.) in France. Pest Manag
Sci., 63: 1100–1106.

Colombo, M., Eördegh, F.R. and Bernardinelli, I. 2001.
First detection of strains of Varroa destructor re-
sistant to coumaphos. Results of laboratory tests
and field trials. Apidologie, 32: 49–55.

Colombo, M., Spreafico, M. and Eördegh, F.R. 2002.
Sperimentazioni di lotta a Varroa destructor An-
derson & Trueman nell’ambito del progetto AMA.
In: Atti del Conv. “Il ruolo della ricerca in Apicol-
tura” Bologna 14/16 marzo, pp. 175–181.

De Jong, D. 1979. Field identification of Varroa jacob-
soni, a parasitic mite of honey bees. Glean. in Bee
Cult., 107: 639–640, 644.

De Jong, D., De Andrea Roma, D., and Gonsalves,
L.S.A. 1982. 

Comparative analysis of shaking so-
lutions for the detection of Varroa jacobsoni on
adult honeybees. Apidologie, 13: 297–303.

Dobrynin, N.D., Colombo, M. and Eordegh, F.R. 2011.
[STRANOVA — new international research proj-
ect on protection of bees from varroosis and nose-
mosis]. Pchelovodstvo, 6: 24–26. [In Russian]

Ellis, M., Nelson, R. and Simonds, C. 1988. A com-
parison of the fluvalinate and ether roll methods of
sampling for varroa mites in honey bee colonies.
Am. Bee J., 128: 262–263.

Fakhimzadeh, K. 2001. Detection of major mite pests
of Apis mellifera and development of non-chemi-
cal control of varroasis. Academic dissertation.
University of Helsinki Department of Applied Bi-
ology publication no. 3. Helsinki: 46 pp.

Fries, I., Aarhus, A., Hansen, H., and Korpela, S. 1991
Comparison of diagnostic methods for detection
of low infestation levels of Varroa jacobsoni in
honey-bee (Apis mellifera) colonies. Exp. Appl.
Acarol., 10: 279–287.

Holland, M. 2012. Varroa mites could devastate our
honeybee industry. The Sydney Morning Herald.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-
news/varroa-mites-could-devastate-our-honey-
bee-industry/story-e6freuzi-1226408275037. Re-
trieved June 26, 2012.

Herbert, E.W., Witherell, P.C., Bruce, W.A., and Shi-
manuki, H. 1989. Evaluation of six methods of
detecting varroa mites in beehives, including the
experimental use of acaricidal smokes containing
fluvalinate or amitraz. Am. Bee J., 129: 605–606,
608.

Imdorf, A., Carriere, J.D., Kilchenmann, V., Bogdanov
S., and Fluri, R. 2003. Alternative strategy in cen-
tral Europe for the control of Varroa destructor in
honey bee colonies. Apiacta, 38: 258–285.

Kulikov, N.S. 1965. [Varroosis of bees]. Pchelovodst-
vo, 11: 15–16. [In Russian]

Lodesani, M. 2004. Control strategies against Varroa
mites. Parassitologia, 46: 277–279.

Lodesani, M., Colombo, M. and Spreafico, M. 1995.
Ineffectiveness of Apistan® treatment against the
mite Varroa jacobsoni Oud in several districts of
Lombardy (Italy). Apidologie, 26: 67–72.

Martin, S.J. 1995. Ontogenesis of the mite Varroa ja-
cobsoni Oud. in drone brood of the honeybee Apis
mellifera L. under natural conditions. Exp. Appl.
Acarol., 19: 199–210.

Maslennikova, V.I. 2002. [The structural elements of
mite Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans populations,
their age reproductive activity and mechanisms of
adaptation to changes of biotic and abiotic factors
in the nest of bees Apis mellifera L.]. Dissertatsiya
na soiskanie stepeni doktora biologicheskikh nauk.
Moscow. 377 pp. [In Russian]

Milani, N. 1990. Mortalità naturale di Varroa jacobsoni
Oud. e livello di infestazione degli alveari. Apicol-
tura, 6: 1–9.

Mitzman, D. 2012. Italian beekeepers battle virus-
spreading mites. http://dw.de/p/15JBP.
Oudemans, A.C. 1904. On a new genus and species of
parasitic Acari. Notes, Leyden Mus., 24 (8): 216–
222.

Parkman, J.P., Skinner, J.A. and Studer, M.D. 2002.
The Tennessee Varroa sticky board trap. Bee Cul-
ture, 130: 30–33.

Polishchuk, V.P. and Pilipenko, V.P. 1990. Pchelovod-
stvo [Beekeeping. A Reference Guide]. Publisher:
Vyshcha shkola, Kiev, 312 pp. [In Russian]

Poltev, V.I., Salchenko, V.L., Nepomnyashchikh, A.S.,
and Subbotin, I.A. 1965. [Varroatosis — a danger-
ous disease of bees]. Selskokhozyaystvennoe
proizvodstvo Sibiri i Dalnego Vostoka, 4: 95–97.
[In Russian]

Rindedrer, T., De Guzman, L. and Sylvester, H.A. 2004.
Re-examination of the accuracy of a detergent so-
lution for varroa mite detection. Am. Bee J., 7:
560–562.

Rosenkranz, P., Aumeier, P. and Ziegelmann, B. 2010.
Biology and control of Varroa destructor. J. Inver-
tebr. Pathol., 103: 96–119.

Salchenko, V.L. 1965. [A new mite-borne disease of
bees in the Primorsky Territory]. In: Tezisy dokla-
dov rasshirennogo plenuma VASKHNIL po pro-
bleme “Infektsionnye, invazionnye i nezaraznye
bolezni pchel i borba s nimi”, Moscow, 10: 38–41.
[In Russian]

Sanford, M.T. 1989. On remembrances. Apis — Api-
cultural Information and Issues. Florida Extension
Beekeeping Newsletter, 7 (10), 5 pp.

Shabanov, M., Nedjalkov, S. and Toshkov, A.L. 1980.
Eine Schnelle einfache Methode zur Varroatose-
Diagnose. In: Diagnose und Therapie der Varroa-
tose Bucharest, Romania. Apimondia Publishing
House, p. 108.

Webster, T.C. and Callaway, D.J. 1992. The use of
emerging bees for detecting low infestations of
Varroa jacobsoni in honey bee colonies. Bee Sci-
ence, 2:125–129.

Yan Tsin-khe. 1965. [Features of biology of Varroa ja-
cobsoni Oudemans]. Kuachong Zhishi, 9 (1): 40–
41. [Russian translation from Chinese]

Zhou, T., Anderson, D.L., Huang, Z.Y., Huang, S., Yao,
J., Ken, T., and Zhang, Q. 2004. Identification of
Varroa mites (Acari: Varroidae) infesting Apis
cerana and Apis mellifera in China. Apidologie,
35: 645–654.