REPELLENT EFFECT OF PLANTS ON MITES VARROA JACOBSONI (OUD., 1904) IN ARMENIA

In the beekeeping practice of Armenia, prevention and treatment of bee diseases has become very important in recent years. One of the known invasive bee diseases that causes significant damage to beekeeping in Armenia is Varroatosis, which is caused by the mole mites Varroa jacobsoni (Oud., 1904), that infects the larvae, pupae, and imago of bees. Varroatosis is a hidden disease that provokes the death of the bee colony. The purpose of our research is to screen the repellent effects of plants on Varroa jacobsoni mites, in order to completely abandon the use of chemical drugs during preventive and decontamination activities. We developed the proportion of the impact of the repellency of herbaceous plants growing on the territory of Armenia on Varroa jacobsoni mites in order to reject them from bees and prevent the spread of this invasive disease on an apiary. The following plants were used in our research: wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L.), yarrow (Achilleamille folium L.) and chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) The results of our studies revealed a positive effect. The effectiveness of an inexpensive and completely harmless method allows us to judge about its profitability.

INFESTAÇÃO DE COLÔNIAS DE Apis mellifera L. POR Varroa jacobsoni OUDEMANS NA ALDEIA DO CONTÃO, RORAIMA, BRASIL.

Foram coletadas amostras de operárias de A. mellifera, em um apiário localizado na Aldeia do Contão, Município de Pacaraima, Roraima, nos meses de outubro/1996, fevereiro, maio e agosto de 1997. Os níveis de infestação com o ácaro Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans, por colônia, variaram de 0,19% a 29,07%. A média de todo o período foi de 6,89%. Os mais altos níveis de infestação foram registrados no mês de maio com média de 11,56%.

OCORRÊNCIA DE Varroa jacobsoni OUDEMANS PARASITANDO Apis mellifera L., NO ESTADO DE RORAIMA

Em março de 1991, durante inspeção de rotina no apiário da EMBRAPA, Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal de Roraima, localizado no campo experimental Bom Intento, a 27 Km de Boa Vista, encontrou-se ácaros parasitando larvas e adultos de Apis mellifera

Different strategies to manage Varroa jacobsoni and Tropilaelaps mercedesae in Papua New Guinea

Apiculture in the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is under significant pressure from emerging parasitic mites, Varroa jacobsoni and Tropilaelaps mercedesae. While numerous mite control products exist, beekeepers in Papua New Guinea have limited access and resources for these products and their effectiveness under local conditions is untested. Here we determined the effectiveness of two brood manipulation strategies – queen caging and queen removal – for managing V. jacobsoni and T. mercedesae in comparison to the chemical miticide Bayvarol®. Our results found Bayvarol® was the most effective control strategy for V. jacobsoni, maintaining high efficacy (>90%) over four months with significantly reduced mean numbers of V. jacobsoni compared to untreated control hives. In contrast, mean numbers of T. mercedesae were significantly reduced by the brood manipulation strategies over two months, but not by Bayvarol® compared to the controls. These results highlight that a combination of different strategies is likely needed to effectively manage both mite pests in PNG. We discuss how these strategies could be optimised and adopted to achieve better mite management for PNG beekeepers.

Using drone brood in the control of the Varroa disease of bees in Greece

The use of drone brood to control the Varroa disease (Varroa jacobsoni Ouds) was tested in twenty bee colonies (ten as control) which had a very low Varroa mite infestation. The experiment started in winter 1981-82. Early in spring 1983 the brood was removed from ten hives and later during April, May and June it was replaced by drone combs (trap combs) which were also removed when drone cells were capped. The same treatment was repeated during spring 1984. In July 31, 1984, the adult bee infestation was 0 to 7%, while the worker brood’s infestation was 0 to 17%. The data show that, after two and half years without any acaricidal treatment, six out of the ten bee colonies continued to have a very low mite infestation, while three showed high infestation and had to be treated with acaricide. One of the three colonies was treated by acaricide in the winter 1983-84, that is two years from the beginning of this experiment. On the contrary, in the ten control colonies (with the same low infestation in spring 1982) the mite infestation reached catastrophic levels by August 1983.