The parasitic mite Varroa destructor inXuences Xight behavior, orientation and returning success of forager honeybees (Apis mellifera) infested as adults. As impaired orientation toward the nest entrance might be due to deWciency in recognition and responsiveness to stimuli in the environment, we examined eVects of V. destructor on sensory responsiveness, nonassociative and associative learning...

Eusocial insect colonies form superorganisms, in which nestmates cooperate and use social immunity to combat parasites. However, social immunity may fail in case of emerging diseases. This is the case for the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor, which switched hosts from the Eastern honeybee, Apis cerana, to the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, and currently is the greatest threat to A. mell...

We evaluated the performance of six named types of package honey bees, Apis mellifera L (Hymenoptera: Apidae), from four commercial producers. We examined the effects of levels of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman, the endoparasitic mite Acarapis woodi (Rennie), the gut parasite Nosema (species not determined) in samples from bees in 48 packages, and levels of adult drones...

BACKGROUND The Varroa destructor varroasis is a very serious parasite of honeybee Apis mellifera. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Varroa treatment using organic acid (oxalic acid) in Algeria identifying its side effects on bee colonies. METHODS Treatment was conducted in one apiary consisting 30 colonies kept in Langstroth hives kind. Oxalic acid dripped direc...

Abstract Beekeepers have various options to control the parasitic mite Varroa destructor in honey bee colonies, but no empirical data are available on methods they apply practice. We surveyed 28,409 beekeepers maintaining 507,641 colonies 30 European countries concerning methods. The set of 19 different diagnosis and measures was taken from annual COLOSS questionnaire colony losses. most freque...

Current high losses of honeybees seriously threaten crop pollination. Whereas parasite exposure is acknowledged as an important cause of these losses, the role of insecticides is controversial. Parasites and neonicotinoid insecticides reduce homing success of foragers (e.g. by reduced orientation), but it is unknown whether they negatively affect flight capacity. We investigated how exposing co...

Social immunity is a key factor for honeybee health, including behavioral defense strategies such as the collective use of antimicrobial plant resins (propolis). While laboratory data repeatedly show significant propolis effects, field data are scarce, especially at the colony level. Here, we investigated whether propolis, as naturally deposited in the nests, can protect honeybees against ectop...