Varroa mites and honey bee health: can Varroa explain part of the colony losses?

Varroa et santé des abeilles: la présence de cet acarien peut-il expliquer en partie les pertes observées dans les colonies ?

Yves Le Conte , Marion Ellis , Wolfgang Ritter

Since 2006, disastrous colony losses have been reported in Europe and North America. The causes of the losses were not readily apparent and have been attributed to overwintering mortalities and to a new phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder. Most scientists agree that there is no single explanation for the extensive colony losses but that interactions between different stresses are involved. As the presence of Varroa in each colony places an important pressure on bee health, we here address the question of how Varroa contributes to the recent surge in honey bee colony losses.

Mots clés: Varroa destructor; Apis mellifera; colony collapse disorder; winter losses; honey bee stressors<br>---<br>Varroa destructor; syndrôme d'effondrement des colonies; pertes hivernales; facteurs de stress

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

Yves Le Conte, Marion Ellis, Wolfgang Ritter. Varroa mites and honey bee health: can Varroa explain part of the colony losses?. Apidologie, 2010, 41 (3), pp.353-363. ⟨10.1051/apido/2010017⟩. ⟨hal-00892103⟩