Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T08:47:36.125Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Honey bee mortality due to tracheal mite parasitism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

L. A. Royce  and
P. A. Rossignol
L. A. Royce
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2907 USA
P. A. Rossignol
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2907 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

We demonstrate, by truncating the expected negative binomial distribution, that the tracheal mite parasite, Acarapis woodi, causes mortality in the Europen honey bee, Apis mellifera, but, that this mortality can be documented only during periods of low mite densities (mites per bee). At high mite densities, this technique no longer reveals mite-induced mortality. We suggest that this paradox results from a reduction in the mortality threshold at high mite densities, concealing mortality from our truncation procedures. Longitudinal comparisons of hive and forager bee cohorts, nevertheless, suggests mortality at all levels of infestation. We propose that persistent parasitism overcomes a colony's ability to compensate for losses, leading to its sudden decline and death.

Keywords

tracheal mitehoney beenegative binomial distributionparasitismpathology
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 100 , Issue 1 , February 1990 , pp. 147 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, L. (1958). The epidemiology of the infestation of the honeybee, Apis mellifera L., by the mite Acarapis woodi Rennie and the mortality of infested bees. Parasitology 48, 493–506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, L. (1961). The natural incidence of Acarapis woodi (Rennie) and the winter mortality of honeybee colonies. Bee World 42, 96–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, L. (1964). The ‘Isle of Wight Disease’: The origin and significance of the myth. Bee World 45, 32–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, L. & Lee, D. C. (1959). The effect of infestation with Acarapis woodi (Rennie) on the mortality of honey bees. Journal of Insect Pathology 1, 15–24.Google Scholar
Bliss, C. I. (1953). Fitting the negative binomial distribution to biological data. Biometrics 9, 176–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crofton, H. D. (1971). A quantitative approach to parasitism. Parasitology 62, 179–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eischen, F. (1987). Overwintering performance of honey bee colonies heavily infested with Acarapis woodi (Rennie). Apidology 18, 293–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giordani, G. (1965). Laboratory research on Acarapis woodi Rennie, the causative agent of acarine disease of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) Note 2. Bulletin Apicole 6, 185–203.Google Scholar
Giordani, G. (1977). Facts about Acarine mites. In Proceedings of the XXVIth International Congress Apiculture, Adelaide, pp. 459– 467. Bucharest: Apimondia Publishing House.Google Scholar
Lanciani, C. A. & Boyett, J. M. (1980). Demonstrating parasitic water mite-induced mortality in natural host populations. Parasitology 81, 465–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. C. (1963). The susceptibility of honey bees of different ages to infestations by Acarapis woodi (Rennie). Journal of Insect Pathology 5, 11–15.Google Scholar
Morgenthaler, O. (1929). Problems of acarine disease of bees. Bee World 2, 19–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgenthaler, O. (1931). An Acarine disease experimental apiary in the Bernese Lake-District and some of the results obtained there. Bee World 12, 8–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pichon, G., Prod'hon, J. & Rivière, J. F. (1980). Filarioses: surdispersion parasitaire et surinfection de l'hôte invertebré. Cahiers d'O.R.S.T.O.M., Série Entomologie Médicale et Parasitologie 18, 27–47.Google Scholar
Rennie, J. (1921). Isle of Wight Disease in hive bees –Acarie disease: the organism associated with the disease –Tarsonemus woodi, n.sp. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 52, 768–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, F., Cromroy, H., Thel, K. & Carpenter, W. (1986). The mite problem - is it for real? American Beekeeping Federation Newsletter 44, 5.Google Scholar
Royce, L. A., Krantz, G. W., Ibay, L. A. & Burgett, D. M. (1988). Some observations on the biology and behavior of Acarapis woodi and Acarapis dorsalis in Oregon. In Africanised Honey Bees and Bee Mites (ed. Needham, G., Page, R. Jr., Delfinado-Baker, M. & Bowman, C. E.), pp. 498–505. Chichester: Ellis Horwood Ltd.Google Scholar
Sakagami, S. F. & Fukuda, H. (1968). Life tables for worker honeybees. Research in Population Ecology 10, 127–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, E. O. (1971). The Insect Societies. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, W. T. & Nunamaker, P. A. (1982). The infestation of honey bees in Mexico with Acarapis woodi. American Bee Journal 122, 503–6.Google Scholar
Winston, M. L. & Fergusson, L. A. (1985). The effect of worker loss on temporal caste structure in colonies of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). Canadian Journal of Zoology 63, 777–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar