Varroa mites, which appeared in this country in 1987, are external parasites sometimes visible to the naked eye. The regional mite management effort will involve land-grant universities, state departments of agriculture, beekeeper organizations and others in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Penn State will administer the program and provide training and information on honey bee management to cooperative extension educators from the four states. This knowledge could help us to develop new control strategies or to identify desirable traits to select for in breeding programs. Other studies should be conducted to evaluate whether specific lines of honey bee stock are resistant to mites.
Some research already is under way.
For more information, visit the bee research Web site. This page was created by Annemarie Mountz .