Incidence rates of Acarapis woodi (Rennie) in queen honey bees of various ages

• Published in: Apidologie Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 69 - 75
• Main Authors: PETTIS, J. S, DIETZ, A, EISCHEN, F. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Les Ulis EDP Sciences 1989
• Subjects: abeja reina; acarapis; Acarapis woodi; Acari; age; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Apidae; Autoecology; Biological and medical sciences; edad; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Hymenoptera; infestacion; infestation; parasitism; parasitisme; parasitismo; Protozoa. Invertebrata; queen bees; reine d' abeille; Tarsonemidae; Host parasite relation; Insecta; Apidae; Tarsonemidae; Acariformes; Arachnida; Acari; Apoidea; Arthropoda; Parasitism rate; Tarsonemida; Hymenoptera; Invertebrata; Queen (insect); Age; Aculeata
• ISSN: 0044-8435; 1297-9678
• DOI: 10.1051/apido:19890107

Queen honey bees, Apis mellifera L., exhibited a rapid decline in susceptibility to infestation by the tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi (Rennie), with increasing age. Ten-day-old queens are invaded by 1.0 mites per queen, while queens one day of age had 6.5 mites. Laying queens removed from colonies during requeening had an A. woodi incidence rate of 30.6%. Newly mated queens obtained from mating nuclei infested with A. woodi had an incidence rate of 14.3%. Additionally, queens stored in queen banks prior to shipment may be subject to further mite pressure as we found that A. woodi was able to move through wire screening from infested to uninfested workers during food exchange.