Selection of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Genotypes for Three Generations of Low and High Population Growth of the Mite Varroa destructor

Autor: Alvaro De la Mora, Paul H. Goodwin, Berna Emsen, Paul G. Kelly, Tatiana Petukhova, Ernesto Guzman-Novoa
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Animals, Vol 14, Iss 23, p 3537 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2076-2615
DOI: 10.3390/ani14233537
Popis: Honey bee (Apis mellifera) population declines have been associated with the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, which is currently primarily controlled by the use of acaricides. An alternative is to breed for resistance to Varroa, which was conducted in this study by bidirectional selection for mite fall to obtain colonies with low (resistant) or high (susceptible) Varroa population growth (LVG and HVG, respectively). Selection for three generations resulted in approx. 90% lower Varroa population growth in LVG than in HVG colonies. In addition, late summer Varroa infestation rates of brood and adults were both significantly lower in LVG colonies (p < 0.01), which was also significantly associated with lower Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) infection levels (p < 0.01). Survival of Varroa-parasitized bees was almost 50% higher for LVG bees compared to HVG bees (p < 0.01). Also, colony winter survivorship was significantly higher for LVG colonies than for HVG colonies (p < 0.05). However, the higher colony populations observed for LVG colonies were not significantly different from those of HVG colonies. Overall, individual and colony health was improved by selecting colonies for LVG, demonstrating its effectiveness as a means of breeding for controlling Varroa populations in honey bee colonies.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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