What has been done in the fight against Varroa destructor: from the past to the present

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Gregorc A., Domingues C., TUTUN H., SEVİN S.

ANKARA UNIVERSITESI VETERINER FAKULTESI DERGISI, vol.69, no.2, pp.229-240, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Review
  • Volume: 69 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.33988/auvfd.1029296
  • Journal Name: ANKARA UNIVERSITESI VETERINER FAKULTESI DERGISI
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, Veterinary Science Database, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.229-240
  • Keywords: Diagnosis, Honey bee disease, mite, parasite, Varroa control, HONEY-BEE COLONIES, APIS-MELLIFERA L., DEFORMED WING VIRUS, FORMIC-ACID, OXALIC-ACID, JACOBSONI OUD, DRONE BROOD, MESOSTIGMATA VARROIDAE, HYGIENIC BEHAVIOR, MITE REPRODUCTION
  • Ankara University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Bees are the major pollinators in natural ecosystems and in the agricultural production of several crops used for human consumption. However, they are exposed to multiple stressors that are causing a serious decline in their population. We highlight a major one among them, the Varroa destructor mite (Varroa) that causes severe impacts on the health of honey bee colonies, transmitting a variety of viruses that can affect the survival ability of individual bees and entire colonies. Diagnosis and mite control methods have been intensively studied in recent decades, with many studies in different areas of knowledge having been conducted. This overview summarizes these studies with a focus on colony defense systems, biological characteristics of the parasite Varroa, diagnostic methods used to establish the infestation level of colonies, and currently used control methods.