Varroa feed off the fat stores??

[Tremyfro]

This is part of a conversation about varroa and how they feed on bees. Does anyone know about this research? It's amazing what is being discovered.
" And now that they have discovered that mites feed off the fat stores, not the hemolymph, they understand that the damage to critical functions provided by the fat stores can kill off bees (especially winter bees) without any disease transmission
Can you recall where you read that about the fat stores, I'd really like to read more on that, would explain a lot about winter losses here in IrelandSamuel Ramsey did the work through the Bee Lab at the University of Maryland. He spoke at our state meeting. I know he was completing the study for publication this spring, so I don't think it is available yet in print.
It has huge implications. Fat stores provide temperature regulation, osmoregulation, metabolism regulation and immune functions. A lack of special proteins manufactured in the fat stores can cause premature aging and significantly shortened life spans. Energy is stored in fat. A bee with compromised fat stores might have enough energy to leave the hive, but not return."

 

[Erichalfbee]

An outline of Samuel Ramsay's work is all I could find

 

[Tremyfro]

Yes...that's the one...not published yet...I think. It sounds interesting research.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Project Apis...something to do be Beeinformed.
This is quite shocking
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/survey

 

[oliver90owner]

All the more reason to remove varroa infestations before winter, not half way through it.

 

[Tremyfro]

I wonder if that is the whole picture as many hive won't be registered....same as here. Although it is mandatory in many states to register your colonies, I suspect that it is more carefully policed in the towns and cities.

 

[Tremyfro]

All the more reason to remove varroa infestations before winter, not half way through it.

Getting the numbers down beforehand, yes, but I do wonder why some colonies seem to cope better than others. I have noticed that there are fewer varroa after Vaping since the bees went into the Beehaus. I did increase the insulation...top, bottom and sides considerably.
Do you have any experience of the solar heating and /or high humidity for hives? It is said to kill the varroa in the cells and the phoretic varroa as they can't cope with higher temperatures like the bees...I don't know anything about the higher humidity though.

 

[madasafish]

Getting the numbers down beforehand, yes, but I do wonder why some colonies seem to cope better than others. I have noticed that there are fewer varroa after Vaping since the bees went into the Beehaus. I did increase the insulation...top, bottom and sides considerably.
Do you have any experience of the solar heating and /or high humidity for hives? It is said to kill the varroa in the cells and the phoretic varroa as they can't cope with higher temperatures like the bees...I don't know anything about the higher humidity though.

The highest varroa loads on bees I have experienced was 2016. The 2016 summer here was wet and cold after 4th June. and the worst since I started keeping bees in 2010.

 

[For want of a better word]

All the more reason to remove varroa infestations before winter, not half way through it.

Randy Oliver advocates a constant attack on Varroa to keep numbers as low as one can

Rhubarb leaves are possibly the answer in the supering months OA vaporisation in early Spring and late Summer.... Winter trickle No

Yeghes da

 

[Tremyfro]

Randy Oliver advocates a constant attack on Varroa to keep numbers as low as one can

Rhubarb leaves are possibly the answer in the supering months OA vaporisation in early Spring and late Summer.... Winter trickle No

Yeghes da

Rhubarb...I love a Rhubarb crumble with whipped cream....I'm not sharing it with the bees....they can get their own...lol.

 

[bjosephd]

I suppose their's no harm in chucking a rhubarb leaf or two in on the top bars! I should have tried it before the ApiGuard to see if it accelerated the mite drop.

Maybe I'll dry some for smoker fuel!

 

[Little John]

Project Apis...something to do be Beeinformed.
This is quite shocking
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/survey

Can't get that 'survey' page to display ... yet all the others load ok (typical ...) - is there any chance of someone kindly assisting with posting a screen-grab or similar ?

I hope it has more info than their MiteCheck survey:

As that's a bit 'thin' on data - unless of course you guys are seeing something different to the above.
LJ

 

[Erichalfbee]

This?
If you eventually get the page you can toggle between years
Amazingly.......commercial losses are better than hobby. Non- treaters?

 

[colinc]

Can't get that 'survey' page to display ... yet all the others load ok (typical ...) - is there any chance of someone kindly assisting with posting a screen-grab or similar ?



I hope it has more info than their MiteCheck survey:

As that's a bit 'thin' on data - unless of course you guys are seeing something different to the above.

LJ

Looks like that computer screen no longer renders Red and yellow...[emoji23]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Little John]

Thanks Erica
LJ

 

[Little John]

Proceedings of the 2017 American Bee Research Conference

39. Varroa destructor feed primarily on honey bee fat body not hemolymph

Samuel D. Ramsey and Dennis vanEngelsdorp. Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park.

Efforts to mitigate the elevated losses of honey bee colonies have reached a global context as one of the primary drivers of these losses, Varroa destructor, has achieved a nearly ubiquitous distribution. Better understanding of the association of this parasite and its host is integral to developing sustainable management practices but very little study, if any, exists as support for the heretofore uncontested conclusion that Varroa feed exclusively on the hemolymph of adult and immature honey bees. This study was conducted to determine the primary host tissue composing Varroa’s diet.

Findings in a preliminary study suggest that the mites may feed on fat body. To test this hypothesis, honey bees were reared to specific ages corresponding to the development of the fat body and fed one of two fluorescent biostains ad libitum. The Uranine O biostain persisted in the hemolymph and Nile Red biostain persisted in the fat body. Mites were allowed to feed on these bees for 24 hours and were then crushed and placed in a spectrophotometer. The biostain associated with the fat tissue was present in Varroa in significantly greater proportions than the hemolymph biostain in all 4 honey bee age treatment groups. Varroa consumed 3 times as much fat body as hemolymph when allowed to feed on the age group associated with nurse bees, at which time fat body is at peak development.

To determine the importance of each host tissue in Varroa’s diet, adult female mites were collected from uncapped brood in several untreated colonies. These mites were then placed in queen rearing cups lined with beeswax and fed fat body, hemolymph, or a combination of the two through an artificial membrane. Fecundity was measured and analyzed. Varroa fed hemolymph produced no eggs while Varroa produced eggs in all treatments containing fat body. We are currently conducting studies of survivorship of mites fed on these two host tissues. Preliminary data shows Varroa fed only fat body have greater survivorship as well, which suggests that the ingestion of hemolymph may not be integral to growth and development of this mite.

LJ