The effect of honey bee tracheal mite infestation on colony development and honey yield of Buckfast and Italian honey bee strains in Israel

Infestations by honey bee tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi (Rennie) (HBTM), we re followed in three: groups for one gear. The groups consisted of 1) acari cide (amitraz) treated Italian bee colonies, 2) untreated Italian bee colon ies, and 3) untreated Buckfast colonies, Mite prevalence of Buckfast bees d eclined from 45% in December to 10% in April and remained low, and mt,st qu eens persisted for the entire period, Furthermore, bee populations increase d and honey yield was high in comparison to seasonal averages, HBTM prevale nce in the treated Italian colonies remained low until July, with a large i ncrease in bee populations and honey yield, similar to that of the Buckfast colonies; however only a quarter of the queens survived, The untreated col onies were severely infested by the mite and much reduced in population, pr oduced little honey and most of their queens were replaced, Nosema infectio ns and Varroa mite prevalence rates were similar in all treatments. Along w ith a documentation of HBTM damage and control, this is also the first demo nstration of the resistance of Buckfast bees to A. woodi under Mediterranea n conditions.