Small-cell comb does not control Varroa mites in colonies of honeybees of European origin

Thomas Seeley , Sean Griffin

We tested the idea that Varroa destructor can be controlled in colonies of the European subspecies of Apis mellifera by providing them with combs built of small cells, in which immature mites might have difficulty developing for lack of space. We established seven pairs of equal-size colonies that started out equally infested with mites. In each pair, one hive contained only standard-cell (5.4 mm) comb, and the other contained only small-cell (4.8 mm) comb. We measured the colonies' mite loads at monthly intervals across a summer. No differences arose between the two treatment groups in their mean mite loads (mites per 100 worker bees or mite drop per 48 h). We suggest that providing small-cell combs did not inhibit mite reproduction because the fill factor (thorax width/cell width) was only slightly higher in the small cells than in the standard cells (79% and 73%, respectively).

Mots clés: Apis mellifera; Varroa destructor; small cell; mite control; cell size

Domaines: Zoologie des invertébrés; Biodiversité; Ecologie, Environnement; Science des productions animales

Thomas Seeley, Sean Griffin. Small-cell comb does not control Varroa mites in colonies of honeybees of European origin. Apidologie, 2011, 42 (4), pp.526-532. ⟨10.1007/s13592-011-0054-4⟩. ⟨hal-01003589⟩