DOI: 10.5061/dryad.mgqnk998j
title: First observation of Tropilaelaps mercedesae (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) on Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) exiting colonies

description: Tropilaelaps mercedesae (Delfinado and Baker) is an emerging parasitic
 mite that can severely impact the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.).
 While T. mercedesae appears to have been detected in a larger geographical
 range, the routes of inter-colony dispersal between A. mellifera colonies
 are still largely unknown. In this study, we used funnel traps to collect
 foraging honey bees exiting their colonies before performing an alcohol
 wash to collect any phoretic T. mercedesae mites. We found T. mercedesae
 on exiting adult bees but only when colonies had elevated T. mercedesae
 infestations. We show for the first time that T. mercedesae can exit
 colonies through phoresy on adult A. mellifera which demonstrates the
 potential of these mites to be spread through movement of honey bees among
 colonies.
description: The data was collected during the field experiment sessions. Data
 was collected on paper and entered as a .csv file on Excel. Tables to
 display the data were created in Excel. 
description: # First observation of Tropilaelaps mercedesae(Mesostigmata: Laelapidae)
 on Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) exiting colonies
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mgqnk998j](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mgqnk998j) ## Description of the data and file structure *Apis mellifera* colonies were fit with traps and exiting adult honey were captured. These adult honey bees were washed with alcohol to look for* *presence of* Tropilaelaps mercedesae* mites. Simultaneously, worker capped brood was periodically inspected for* T. mercedesae* infestation. All data was collected on paper data sheets and entered into CSV files on Excel.  ### Files and variables #### File: Tropilaelaps\_TrapColony\_Washes\_FINAL.csv **Description:** Tropilaelaps mite wash collection data from July -  August 2023 ##### Variables * date: Date * hive: Colony ID * tropi_in_wash: Number of Tropilaelaps mites in the alcohol wash * bees: The number of bees per trapped sample on that date * Total: The total bees for all traps #### File: January\_TropilaelapsTrapColonies\_DRYAD.xlsx **Description:** Tropilaelaps mite wash collection data from January -  February 2024 ##### Variables * date: Date * hive: Colony ID * tropi_in_wash: Number of Tropilaelaps mites in the alcohol wash * bees: The number of bees per trapped sample on that date * mite_per_100_bees: Number of Tropilaelaps mites per 100 bees in sample * number_of_females: Number of female Tropilaelaps mites in sample * number_of_males: Number of male Tropilaelaps mites in sample #### File: Tropilaelaps\_TrapColony\_Data.csv **Description:** Colony inspection data from July - August 2023 ##### Variables * date: Date * temperature: Temperature * hive: Colony ID * treatment: Colony use * queen_status: Honey bee queen in colony or not * fob: Frames of adult bees * cb_1A: Capped worker brood for frame side 1A * cb_1B: Capped worker brood for frame side 1B * cb_2A: Capped worker brood for frame side 2A * cb_2B: Capped worker brood for frame side 2B * cb_3A: Capped worker brood for frame side 3A * cb_3B: Capped worker brood for frame side 3B * cb_4A: Capped worker brood for frame side 4A * cb_4B: Capped worker brood for frame side 4B * cb_5A: Capped worker brood for frame side 5A * cb_5B: Capped worker brood for frame side 5B * cb_6A: Capped worker brood for frame side 6A * cb_6B: Capped worker brood for frame side 6B * cb_7A: Capped worker brood for frame side 7A * cb_7B: Capped worker brood for frame side 7B * cb_8A: Capped worker brood for frame side 8A * cb_8B: Capped worker brood for frame side 8B * cb_avg: Average amount of capped worker brood per colony in (cm^2) * db_1A: Capped drone brood for frame side 1A * db_1B: Capped drone brood for frame side 1B * db_2A: Capped drone brood for frame side 2A * db_2B: Capped drone brood for frame side 2B * db_3A: Capped drone brood for frame side 3A * db_3B: Capped drone brood for frame side 3B * db_4A: Capped drone brood for frame side 4A * db_4B: Capped drone brood for frame side 4B * db_5A: Capped drone brood for frame side 5A * db_5B: Capped drone brood for frame side 5B * db_6A: Capped drone brood for frame side 6A * db_6B: Capped drone brood for frame side 6B * db_7A: Capped drone brood for frame side 7A * db_7B: Capped drone brood for frame side 7B * db_8A: Capped drone brood for frame side 8A * db_8B: Capped drone brood for frame side 8B * db_avg: Average amount of capped drone brood per colony in (cm^2) * tropi_0-50: Number of Tropilaelaps mites found in capped worker brood cells 0-50 * tropi_51-100: Number of Tropilaelaps mites found in capped worker brood cells 51-100 * tropi_101-150: Number of Tropilaelaps mites found in capped worker brood cells 101-150 * tropi_151-200: Number of Tropilaelaps mites found in capped worker brood cells 151-200 * tropi_200: Total number of Tropilaelaps mites found in 200 capped worker brood cells * tropi_infestation_%: Tropilaelaps mite infestation in 100 capped worker brood cells * colony: Colony ID * AVG_mites_per_200cells: Average number of mites found per colony in 200 cells * AVG_mites_per_100cells: Average number of mites found per colony in 200 cells N/A: Not applicable ## Code/software Only CSV excel files were used.