[Pollinator] Honey Bees Selected by ARS Toss out Varroa Mites

[Ladadams at aol.com]

Electronic Information Kit:  http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/bees/index.htm


Honey Bees Selected by  ARS Toss Out Varroa Mites  
___________________________________________

ARS News  Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Alfredo Flores, (301)  504-1627, alfredo.flores at ars.usda.gov
September 10, 2009
--View this  report online, plus photos and related stories, at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr  
___________________________________________

Honey bees are now  fighting back aggressively against Varroa mites,
thanks to Agricultural  Research Service (ARS) efforts to develop bees
with a genetic trait that  allows them to more easily find the mites and
toss them out of the  broodnest.

The parasitic Varroa mite attacks the honey bee, Apis  mellifera L., by
feeding on its hemolymph, which is the combination of blood  and fluid
inside a bee. Colonies can be weakened or killed, depending on  the
severity of the infestation. Most colonies eventually die from  varroa
infestation if left untreated.

Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH)  is a genetic trait of the honey bee that
allows it to remove mite-infested  pupae from the capped brood-developing
bees that are sealed inside cells of  the comb with a protective layer of
wax. The mites are sometimes difficult  for the bees to locate, since
they attack the bee brood while these  developing bees are inside the
capped cells.

ARS scientists at the  agency's Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and
Physiology Research Unit in Baton  Rouge, La., have developed honey bees
with high expression of the VSH trait.  Honey bees are naturally
hygienic, and they often remove diseased brood from  their nests. VSH is
a specific form of nest cleaning focused on removing  varroa-infested
pupae. The VSH honey bees are quite aggressive in their  pursuit of the
mites. The bees gang up, chew and cut through the cap, lift  out the
infected brood and their mites, and discard them from the broodnest.  

See this activity in the attached video link here:  
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/bees/index.htm 

This hygiene kills the  frail mite offspring, which greatly reduces the
lifetime reproductive output  of the mother mite. The mother mite may
survive the ordeal and try to  reproduce in brood again, only to undergo
similar treatment by the  bees.

To test the varroa resistance of VSH bees, the Baton Rouge  team
conducted field trials using 40 colonies with varying levels of  VSH.
Mite population growth was significantly lower in VSH and  hybrid
colonies than in bee colonies without VSH. Hybrid colonies had half  the
VSH genes normally found in pure VSH bees, but they still  retained
significant varroa resistance. Simpler ways for bee breeders to  measure
VSH behavior in colonies were also developed in this study.  

This research was published in the Journal of Apicultural Research  and
Bee World.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief  intramural scientific
research agency.  
___________________________________________

This is one of the news  reports that ARS Information distributes to
subscribers on weekdays. Send  feedback and questions to the ARS News
Service at  NewsService at ars.usda.gov.

* You are subscribed to "ARS News" as  tara.weavermissick at ars.usda.gov.
* To change the address, please notify the  ARS News Service at
NewsService at ars.usda.gov.
* To unsubscribe, send a  blank email  to
leave-173154-92739.9c7cdabef9e21dbe5affadb2a6f7dd99 at ls.ars.usda.gov.
*  Other ARS news products are available by e-mail. For details about
them or to  subscribe, please contact the ARS News Service or  visit
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/lists.htm.
__________________________________________
ARS  News Service, Information Staff, Agricultural Research Service
5601 Sunnyside  Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD 20705-5128
NewsService at ars.usda.gov |  www.ars.usda.gov/news 
Phone (301) 504-1636 | fax (301)  504-1486








Laurie Davies Adams
Executive  Director
Pollinator Partnership 
423 Washington Street, 5th  floor
San Francisco, CA  94111
415-362-1137
LDA at pollinator.org

_www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 

_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 

National Pollinator Week is June 21-27, 2010. 
Beecome  involved at _www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/pollinator/attachments/20090914/7967a0af/attachment.html>