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

Abstract

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 p Varroa-parasitized bees was almost 50% higher for LVG bees compared to HVG bees (p p Varroa populations in honey bee colonies.

Keywords

• <i>Apis mellifera</i>
• <i>Varroa destructor</i>
• selective breeding
• mite resistance
• colony collapse disorder
• deformed wing virus