Norwegian honey bees surviving mite infestations by means of natural selection.

BACKGROUND

Managed, feral and wild populations of European honey bee subspecies, , are currently facing severe colony losses globally. There is consensus that the ectoparasitic mite , that switched hosts from the Eastern honey bee to the Western honey bee , is a key factor driving these losses. For >20 years, breeding efforts have not produced European honey bee colonies that can survive infestations without the need for mite control. However, at least three populations of European honey bees have developed this ability by means of natural selection and have been surviving for >10 years without mite treatments. Reduced mite reproductive success has been suggested as a key factor explaining this natural survival. Here, we report a managed population in Norway, that has been naturally surviving consistent infestations for >17 years.

METHODS

Surviving colonies and local susceptible controls were evaluated for mite infestation levels, mite reproductive success and two potential mechanisms explaining colony survival: grooming of adult worker bees and Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH): adult workers specifically detecting and removing mite-infested brood.

RESULTS

Mite infestation levels were significantly lower in surviving colonies and mite reproductive success was reduced by 30% when compared to the controls. No significant differences were found between surviving and control colonies for either grooming or VSH.

DISCUSSION

Our data confirm that reduced mite reproductive success seems to be a key factor for natural survival of infested colonies. However, neither grooming nor VSH seem to explain colony survival. Instead, other behaviors of the adult bees seem to be sufficient to hinder mite reproductive success, because brood for this experiment was taken from susceptible donor colonies only. To mitigate the global impact of , we suggest learning more from nature, i.e., identifying the obviously efficient mechanisms favored by natural selection.