Varroa in the mating yard: II. The effects of Varroa and fluvalinate on drone mating competitiveness

An experiment was conducted to determine whether drones that are produced i n Varroa-infested or Apistan(R)-treated honey bee, Apis mellifera, colonies are able to mate and produce worker offspring in competition with drones f rom uninfested and untreated colonies. The experimental treatments were ide ntified in workers and drones using a DNA restriction fragment length polym orphism (RFLP), Virgin queens naturally mated to the three types of drones at an isolated mating area. It was found that the ratio of workers descende d from each type of drones was the same as the ratio of parental drones ava ilable for mating. This indicates that the drones that survive to mating ag e from Varroa-infested, Apistan(R)-treated and control colonies are equally able to mate and produce offspring.