Abstract

TAPIA-GONZALEZ, José María et al. Varroosis in honey bees in different environmental and regional conditions of Jalisco, Mexico. Ecosistemas y recur. agropecuarios [online]. 2019, vol.6, n.17, pp.243-251. ISSN 2007-901X.  https://doi.org/10.19136/era.a6n17.2018.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Varroa destructor, the degree of mite infestation and the relationship of the parasite with geographic and climatic variables in 369 colonies of honey bees (Apis mellifera) from nine municipalities of temperate and warm areas from the state of Jalisco, Mexico. An average prevalence of 88% and an infestation level of 5.2% of V. destructor were found, with significant differences between municipalities for theses parameters (p < 0.05), but with no significant differences between climatic zones. The prevalence of V. destructor was particularly high in some municipalities, where the average of positive samples reached 100%, with percentages of infestation of > 8%. The 5.2% mite infestation level was similar to that recommended by SAGARPA as tolerable in Mexico (5%), however, more than a third of the colonies exceeded these levels and some had > 35% infestation. The climatic factors analyzed did not have a significant relationship with the prevalence and levels of V. destructor parasitism. This was due to the high variability of the data, which suggests that other factors influence the prevalence and degree of V. destructor infestation of honey bee colonies to a greater extent within each geographic region. Similarly, the altitude above sea level did not have significant effects on the prevalence and infestation levels of V. destructor in this study. Due to the high prevalence of V. destructor in honey bee colonies of southern Jalisco as well as to the high percentage of them having levels of parasitism > 5%, a subsequent study should be carried out to determine what are the causes of these findings, in order to take measures for its control.

Keywords : Apis mellifera; infestation; prevalence; southern Jalisco; Varroa destructor.