Modeling the Influence of Mites on Honey Bee Populations.

David J Torres,Nicholas A Torres

doi:10.3390/vetsci7030139

Abstract

The Varroa destructor mite has been associated with the recent decline in honey bee populations. While experimental data are crucial in understanding declines, insights can be gained from models of honey bee populations. We add the influence of the V. destructor mite to our existing honey bee model in order to better understand the impact of mites on honey bee colonies. Our model is based on differential equations which track the number of bees in each day in the life of the bee and accounts for differences in the survival rates of different bee castes. The model shows that colony survival is sensitive to the hive grooming rate and reproductive rate of mites, which is enhanced in drone capped cells.

Highlights

The decline of honey bees (Apis mellifera) has been associated with many factors, which include the Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni mite and the viruses that they transmit, the microsporidia fungus Nosema ceranae, pesticides, including neonicotinoids, and bee management practices [1,2,3].Here, we study the effect of the V. destructor mite with a mathematical model
We study the effect of the V. destructor mite with a mathematical model
We find that the equation produces fairly similar rates when compared to the rates of drone egg production used by Sumpter and Martin [20] in the spring 1%, summer 3.3%, and autumn 1%

Summary

Introduction

The decline of honey bees (Apis mellifera) has been associated with many factors, which include the Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni mite and the viruses that they transmit, the microsporidia fungus Nosema ceranae, pesticides, including neonicotinoids, and bee management practices [1,2,3]. We study the effect of the V. destructor mite with a mathematical model. V. destructor mite is composed of a phoretic phase and a reproductive phase. Mites remain attached to adult bees where they feed on adult bee fat body tissue [4]. The foundress female mite enters a worker brood or drone cell just before it is capped and lays eggs. Mites increase the mortality rate of bees, especially if they transmit a virus (e.g., the deformed wing virus and the acute paralysis virus) [5]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion