Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7613, USA.
J Econ Entomol. 2009 Dec;102(6):2033-40. doi: 10.1603/029.102.0603.
The parasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman (Acari: Varroidae) has plagued European honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), in the Americas since its introduction in the 1980s. For many years, these mites were sufficiently controlled using synthetic acaricides. Recently, however, beekeepers have experienced increased resistance by mites to chemical pesticides, which are also known to leave residues in hive products such as wax and honey. Thus there has been increased emphasis on nonchemical integrated pest management control tactics for Varroa. Because mites preferentially reproduce in drone brood (pupal males), we developed a treatment strategy focusing on salvaging parasitized drones while removing mites from them. We removed drone brood from colonies in which there was no acaricidal application and banked them in separate "drone-brood receiving" colonies treated with pesticides to kill mites emerging with drones. We tested 20 colonies divided into three groups: 1) negative control (no mite treatment), 2) positive control (treatment with acaricides), and 3) drone-brood removal and placement into drone-brood receiving colonies. We found that drone-brood trapping significantly lowered mite numbers during the early months of the season, eliminating the need for additional control measures in the spring. However, mite levels in the drone-brood removal group increased later in the summer, suggesting that this benefit does not persist throughout the entire season. Our results suggest that this method of drone-brood trapping can be used as an element of an integrated control strategy to control varroa mites, eliminating a large portion of the Varroa population with limited chemical treatments while retaining the benefits of maintaining adult drones in the population.
寄生螨瓦螨（Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman）（节肢动物门：螨目：瓦螨科）自 20 世纪 80 年代传入美洲以来，一直困扰着欧洲蜜蜂（Apis mellifera L.）（膜翅目：蜜蜂科）。多年来，这些螨虫通过使用合成杀螨剂得到了充分控制。然而，最近养蜂人发现螨虫对化学农药的抗药性有所增强，而这些农药也会在蜂产品（如蜂蜡和蜂蜜）中留下残留。因此，人们越来越强调采用非化学综合虫害管理控制策略来防治瓦螨。由于螨虫更喜欢在雄蜂幼虫（蛹化雄性）中繁殖，我们开发了一种治疗策略，重点是在挽救寄生雄蜂的同时从它们身上去除螨虫。我们从没有使用杀螨剂的蜂群中取出雄蜂幼虫，并将它们存放在用杀虫剂处理的单独的“雄蜂幼虫接收”蜂群中，以杀死与雄蜂一起出现的螨虫。我们测试了 20 个分为三组的蜂群：1）阴性对照（无螨虫处理），2）阳性对照（用杀螨剂处理），3）去除雄蜂幼虫并将其放入雄蜂幼虫接收蜂群。我们发现，雄蜂幼虫诱捕在季节的早期显著降低了螨虫数量，从而在春季无需采取其他控制措施。然而，夏季后期，去除雄蜂幼虫组的螨虫水平有所增加，这表明这种好处不会持续整个季节。我们的结果表明，这种雄蜂幼虫诱捕方法可以作为综合控制策略的一个要素，在使用有限的化学处理方法控制瓦螨的同时，消除大部分瓦螨种群，同时保留维持种群中成年雄蜂的好处。
