Diagnosis of varroosis taking into account modern requirements

Abstract

Pollination is an indispensable service for the ecosystem in which bees are distributed, therefore the health of bee colonies is one of the most important conditions, primarily for plant biodiversity, and is extremely important for sustainable and cost-effective agricultural production. Honey bees are susceptible to various diseases. Currently, the invasion caused by the tick Varroa destructor covers every apiary, taking the scale of panzootia. The fight against tick invasion is carried out, achieving only temporary success. Varroa destructor, parasitizing on a bee, opens the gates of a viral infection into its body, which significantly aggravates the situation and leads to the phenomenon of “Colony collapse disorder (CCD)”, reducing the number of families. Ordinary beekeepers and scientific researchers apply various methods of diagnosing invasion. Most of these methods have a significant error - from 2 to 12%, which, in some cases, exceeds the safe threshold for varroa tick content in the bee family. Therefore, science must develop new, humane and accurate methods for determining the degree of affection of the bee family with the varroa tick. Currently, work is underway at the Federal State Budget Institution «Federal Scientific Centre VIEV» (FSC VIEV) on accurate methods for the intravital diagnosis of varrozis.