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ARS Home Pacific West Area Tucson, Arizona Carl Hayden Bee Research Center Research Varroa





- Cold Storage Overview
- Why put colonies in cold storage to overwinter?
- When to put colonies in cold storage?
- Which colonies to put into cold storage?
- Cold Storage Overwintering Tool
- Overview
- Objective 1: Climate effects on bloom and floral rewards
- Objective 2. Landscape level nutrition models
- Objective 3: Determine pollinator number, diversity and pathogen load
- Objective 4: Develop a management plan for overwintering colonies in cold storage
- Outcomes
- Varroa Overview
- Varroa mite life cycle and reproduction
- Varroosis
- How to Monitor, Sample, and Treat for Varroa
- Current Research: Mite Migration
- Introduction
- BEEPOP+ Model

What is a Varroa Mite? The Varroa mite (Varroa *destructor*) is an ectoparasite of the honey bee *Apis mellifera*L. Varroa is the most serious pest of honey bees inflicting more damage and higher economic costs than all other apicultural diseases. Varroa is an invasive species that originated in Asia where the Asian honey bee, *Apis cerana*Fabr. was the host. The mite does little harm to *A. cerana* colonies and maintains a stable host-parasite relationship largely because mite reproduction occurs in drone brood, that comprises <5% of the colony’s brood population. When mites attempt to infest worker brood cells, the parasitized pupa and mites are removed by adult bees exhibiting “hygienic behavior”. Adult bees also remove and kill mites on nestmates (“grooming behavior”). In the 1950s, Varroa shifted hosts from A. *cerana* to the European honey bee (*Apis mellifera* L.). In *A. mellifera*, Varroa parasitizes and reproduces in worker and drone brood. Adult workers and drones also can be parasitized, but Varroa are seldom found on queens. This is a brief overview of Varroa mite biology. For more complete information, click here.


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