Breeding for resistance to Varroa destructor in North America

Sélection d'abeilles résistantes à Varroa destructor en Amérique du Nord.

Thomas E. Rinderer , Jeffrey W. Harris , Gregory J. Hunt , Lilia I. de Guzman

Breeding for resistance to Varroa destructor in North America provides the long-term solution to the economic troubles the mite brings. This review reports the development of two breeding successes that have produced honey bees of commercial quality that do not require pesticide treatment to control Varroa, highlights other traits that could be combined to increase resistance and examines the potential uses of marker-assisted selection (MAS) for breeding for Varroa resistance. Breeding work continues with these stocks to enhance their commercial utility. This work requires knowledge of the mechanisms of resistance that can be further developed or improved in selected stocks and studied with molecular techniques as a prelude to MAS.

Mots clés: Varroa resistance; breeding program; Russian honey bees; Varroa-sensitive hygiene; marker-assisted selection<br>---<br>résistance au varroa; programme de sélection; abeilles russes; comportement hygiénique sensible à varroa; sélection assistée par marqueur

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

Thomas E. Rinderer, Jeffrey W. Harris, Gregory J. Hunt, Lilia I. de Guzman. Breeding for resistance to Varroa destructor in North America. Apidologie, 2010, 41 (3), ⟨10.1051/apido/2010015⟩. ⟨hal-00892090⟩