New tools for Varroa mite management in beekeeping

蜜蜂是现代农业景观中最重要的生态服务提供者之一：它们负责生产种子和/或高质量水果和农产品所需的大约90%的授粉。由于养蜂业和农业的加强，蜜蜂遭受致命的寄生虫和疾病，可能导致蜂群突然崩溃。瓦螨破坏者是一种蜜蜂特有的外部寄生螨，是蜜蜂最严重的疾病病原体之一，因为这种螨会向蜜蜂传播致残的病毒性疾病。这些螨虫在蜜蜂的育雏细胞中繁殖，后代和新蜜蜂一起出现。然后这些成年螨寄生在成年工蜂身上，直到它们找到新的蜜蜂后代进行繁殖。成年螨虫选择性地感染“看护”蜜蜂——照顾发育中的后代的蜜蜂——从而确保它们有机会接触下一代蜜蜂。螨虫通过它们独特的化学特征来识别它们的成年寄主和幼虫。**我们建议测试化学物质，改变螨虫的宿主选择，从看护蜜蜂到另一种工蜂，“觅食”，和/或麻痹螨虫，从而增加它们的死亡率。我们在实验中发现了这些化学物质，测试了螨虫根据蜜蜂的气味，在刚被杀死的看护蜜蜂和觅食蜜蜂之间做出选择的能力，并且测试了螨虫对蜜蜂气味和我们的化学物质的反应。在这里，我们建议在笼子里用活蜜蜂进行试验，并在第2年和第3年，在小的蜂群中使用最活跃的化学品进行实地试验。我们也会寻找我们找到的活性化学物质的目标位置。养蜂人渴望新的螨虫控制剂用于可持续的综合管理计划，因为以前使用的螨虫控制剂不再有效，而且替代品很少。******

Honey bees are among the most important ecological service providers in modern agricultural landscapes: they are responsible for approximately 90% of pollination needed to produce seeds and/or high quality fruit and produce. Due to intensification of beekeeping and agriculture, bees suffer from deadly parasites and diseases that can lead to sudden collapse of bee colonies. Varroa destructor, a honey bee-specific external parasitic mite, is among the most serious disease agents of honey bees, because the mites transmit crippling viral diseases to bees. These mites reproduce within bee brood cells, and the offspring emerge with the new bees. These adult mites then parasitize adult worker bees until they find new bee brood for their reproduction. The adult mites selectively infect 'nurse' bees - bees that care for the developing offspring - thereby ensuring that they have access to the upcoming generation of bees. Mites detect their adult hosts and the brood by their unique chemical signatures.**We propose to test chemicals that change the host selection of the mites, from nurse bee to another type of worker bee, the 'forager', and/or paralyze the mites and thereby increase their mortality. We discovered these chemicals in experiments that tested the ability of mites to choose between a freshly killed nurse and forager bee, based on the bee odors, and in which the responses of the mite to bee odors and our chemicals were tested. Here we propose tests in cages with live bees and, in years 2 and 3, field tests with the most active chemicals in small colonies. We also will search for the target site of the active chemicals we find. Beekeepers are hungry for new mite control agents to use in sustainable, integrated management programs, because previously used mite control agents are no longer effective, and there are few replacements.******