COMPARATIVE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF AFRICANIZED HONEY-BEES FROM SOUTH TEXASTO INFESTATION BY ACARAPIS-WOODI

The proportion of Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata Le peletier hybridized with European subspecies) that became infested wit h honey bee tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi [Rennie]), the number of fe male mites per infested bee, and the number of immature mites produced per each test bee were more similar to those of resistant European be es than susceptible European bees when groups of young bees were expos ed to mites in infested colonies. Mean mite reproduction in the three bee types did not differ. Thus the mite resistance of Africanized bees was founded on a disruption of the migratory phase but not the reprod uctive phase of the mite life cycle, as has been found previously when resistant bees were compared with susceptible bees. Although Africani zed bees from the southern United States somewhat resist infestation b y A, woodi, this protection does not exceed that of commercially avail able European stocks.