¹Departament in Animal Science, Semi-Arid Rural Federal University, Mossoró, RN, Brazil.
Department of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Semi-Arid Rural Federal University, Mossoró, RN, Brazil.
Exp Appl Acarol. 2024 Oct;93(3):537-547. doi: 10.1007/s10493-024-00944-1. Epub 2024 Jul 10.
Most published data on mite infestation rates in semi-arid regions have been collected over only 3 or 4 months during a specific period of the year. Therefore, the aim of this study was to observe parasite-host dynamics of hygienic and non-hygienic Africanized bee colonies considering environmental factors that may influence Varroa destructor mite infestation rates in a semi-arid region. To this end, the brood puncture method was applied to 37 colonies, forming two groups, namely G1, encompassing 16 hygienic colonies, and G2, comprising 21 non-hygienic colonies. After forming the groups, 300 worker bees from each colony were examined monthly for mite infestations and the data were correlated with climatological records. The monthly infestation average was considered low, below 10%, except in November, when it reached 12.19% ± 6.45. No statistically significant difference was observed for inter-group infestation rates (P > 0.05). When mite infestation rates were associated with climatic variables, they were linked to colony losses (32%) due to swarming. No significant correlations between hygienic behaviour and parasite infestation rates were noted. Nonetheless, these results support the idea that there is no need to apply acaricides for V. destructor control in Brazil.
大多数关于半干旱地区螨虫滋生率的已发表数据仅在一年中的特定时期内收集了 3 或 4 个月。因此，本研究的目的是观察卫生和非卫生的非洲化蜜蜂群的寄生虫 - 宿主动态，考虑到可能影响半干旱地区瓦螨滋生率的环境因素。为此，采用蜂房穿刺法对 37 个蜂群进行了研究，形成了两个组，即 G1 组，包含 16 个卫生蜂群，G2 组，包含 21 个非卫生蜂群。分组后，每月从每个蜂群的 300 只工蜂中检查螨虫感染情况，并将数据与气候记录相关联。每月的感染平均水平较低，低于 10%，除了 11 月达到 12.19%±6.45。组间感染率无统计学差异（P>0.05）。当将螨虫感染率与气候变量相关联时，它们与因分蜂而导致的蜂群损失（32%）有关。卫生行为与寄生虫感染率之间没有显著相关性。尽管如此，这些结果支持巴西无需使用杀螨剂来控制瓦螨的观点。
