Varroa

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Varroa is a genus of parasitic mesostigmatan mites associated with honey bees, originally placed into its own family, Varroidae, but later revised as a subfamily.[1][4] The genus was named for Marcus Terentius Varro, a Roman scholar and beekeeper. The condition of a honeybee colony being infested with Varroa mites is called varroosis (also, incorrectly, varroatosis).

Varroa mites, but especially the species Varroa destructor, are recognised as the biggest pest to honeybees worldwide due to their ability to transmit diseases such as deformed wing virus (or DWV) to larval or pupating bees, resulting in death or severe deformity of the pupae.

Species

The genus Varroa contains four species:[5]

History and behavior

Varroa mites feed off the fat body tissue of adult, pupal, and larval honey bees,[10] and may carry viruses that are particularly damaging to the bees (e.g., deformed wings, and IAPV), and accordingly they have been implicated in colony collapse disorder. Research has indicated that alone, neither Varroa mites nor deformed wing virus is particularly deadly, yet together they can pose a great risk to colonies.[11][12]

Varroa mites were first discovered in Java in about 1904,[6] but are now present in all honey bee populations worldwide, with a few minor exceptions. They were discovered in the United States in 1987, in New Zealand in 2000,[13] and in the United Kingdom in 1992.[citation needed] They are said to be absent in few isolated regions of the United Kingdom such as Isle of Man and Isle of Colonsay. Because of the lack of Varroa in Isle of Man, the EU made a decision (in Feb. 2015) which allowed the Isle of Man to block the importation of all bee-related supplies.[14]

Australia was said to be free of Varroa until a routine inspection at the Port of Newcastle on 22 June 2022 detected an infestation.[15] Eradication is unlikely because no other introduction elsewhere in the world has been eradicated.[16] On 9 November 2023, ABC News reported that researchers have predicted the extinction of feral bees in Australia within three years because of the spreading Varroa mite infestation.[17]

Varroosis

The infestation and subsequent parasitic disease caused by mites in the genus Varroa is called varroosis.[18] Sometimes, the incorrect names varroatosis or varroasis are used. A parasitic disease name must be formed from the taxonomic name of the parasite and the suffix -osis[19] as provided in the Standardised Nomenclature by the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology.[20] For example, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) uses the name varroosis in the OIE Terrestrial Manual.[21]

Treatments

The chemical treatment of Varroa mites in common beehives typically uses an alcohol wash which causes significant consequential damage to the honey bee population or the use of organic acids such as oxalic acid which is harmful to the mite but not the honey bee.[22] Best results are obtained during periods of low or no brooding given the difficulty of applying medication to the brood and is often dispersed through a small vaporiser to distribute the acid within the hive. Commercial treatments such as Apistan and Apivar are commonly used as well.

Resistance

Some honey bees strains have been bred to be resistant to Varroa,[23][24] through Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) behavior, enabling them to detect reproducing varroa mites and diseased pupae within capped cells, which are then uncapped and the pupae removed.

Bee-breeding efforts to develop resistance against Varroa are ongoing. The USDA has developed a line of bees that uses Varroa-sensitive hygiene to remove reproductive mites. This line is now being distributed to beekeepers to be used as part of their integrated pest management programs.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Delfinado, M. D.; Baker, E. W. (1974). "Varroidae, A new family of mites on honey bees (Mesostigmata: Acarina)". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 64 (1): 4–10. JSTOR 24535743.
  2. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Oudemans, A. C. (1904). "On a new genus and species of parasitic Acari". Notes from the Leyden Museum. 24 (4): 216–222.
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Oudemans, A. C. (1904). "Acarologische Aanteekeningen XII". Entomologische Berichten. 1 (18): 160–164.
  4. ^ Oh J., Lee S., Kwon W., Joharchi O., Kim S., Lee S. 2024. Molecular phylogeny reveals Varroa mites are not a separate family but a subfamily of Laelapidae. Scientific Reports. 14(1): 13994.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Varroa". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.D. L. Anderson & J. W. H. Trueman (2000). "Varroa jacobsoni (Acari: Varroidae) is more than one species". Experimental and Applied Acarology. 24 (3): 165–189. doi:10.1023/A:1006456720416. PMID 11108385. S2CID 12271915.
  7. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.de Guzman, L. I.; Delfinado-Baker, M. (1996). "A new species of Varroa (Acari: Varroidae) associated with Apis koschevnikovi (Apidae: Hymenoptera) in Borneo". International Journal of Acarology. 22 (1): 23–27. Bibcode:1996IJAca..22...23D. doi:10.1080/01647959608684077.
  8. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.de Guzman, Lilia I.; Rinderer, Thomas E. (1999). "Identification and comparison of Varroa species infesting honey bees". Apidologie. 30 (2–3): 85–95. doi:10.1051/apido:19990201.
  9. ^ Delfinado, M.D. & Aggarwal, K. 1987. A new Varroa (Acari: Varroidae) from the nests of Apis cerana (Apidae). International Journal of Acarology. 13: 233–237.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ramsey, Samuel D.; Ochoa, Ronald; Bauchan, Gary; Gulbronson, Connor; Mowery, Joseph D.; Cohen, Allen; Lim, David; Joklik, Judith; Cicero, Joseph M. (2019-01-29). "Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (5): 1792–1801. Bibcode:2019PNAS..116.1792R. doi:10.1073/pnas.1818371116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6358713. PMID 30647116.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mites, Viruses Sicken Bee Hives - Colony Collapse Disorder - Hawaiian Honeybee Infection". LiveScience.com. 7 June 2012.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Bees Wiped Out by Cascade of Deadly Events". LiveScience.com. 17 May 2005.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Zhi-Qian Zhang (2000). "Notes on Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) parasitic on honeybees in New Zealand" (PDF). Systematic & Applied Acarology. Special Publications. 5: 9–14.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Isle of Man Government - Bees". www.gov.im. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."New Varroa mite detection linked to Newcastle". Newcastle Weekly. 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Here's what you need to know about the Varroa mite". Australian National University. 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Researcher says feral bees face extinction as deadly mite spreads in swarms". ABC News. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Varroosis of honey bees (infestation of honey bees with Varroa spp.)". OIE Terrestrial Health Manual (PDF). World Organisation for Animal Health. 2021.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kassai, Tibor (June 2006). "Nomenclature for parasitic diseases: cohabitation with inconsistency for how long and why?". Veterinary Parasitology. 138 (3–4): 169–178. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2006.02.019. PMID 16569483.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Standardised Nomenclature of Animal Parasitic Diseases". Archived from the original on 2014-03-04. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Varroosis in honey bees" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-13. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cambray, Dr Garth A. (2021-12-14). "When and How to Treat Bees for Mites: Guide for Beekeepers". Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Arista Bee Research - Foundation for breeding varroa resistant honey bees". aristabeeresearch.org.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."USDA ARS Online Magazine Vol. 47, No. 8". usda.gov.
  • Page Template:Sister-inline/styles.css has no content.Script error: No such module "Sister project logo". Media related to Script error: No such module "Commons link". at Wikimedia Commons

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