SURVIVAL AND PROPHYLACTIC CONTROL OF TROPILAELAPS CLAREAE INFESTING APIS MELLIFERA COLONIES IN AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

SUMMARY Honeybee colonies heavily infested with Tropilaelaps clareae were found in some apiaries in Afghanistan. Only colonies moved for winter to warmer areas where interruption of brood rearing did not occcur, were invaded, while those overwintered in colder areas were free of mites. From 2 to 54 % of brood cells were infested in particular colonies, but only 1.5 % of adult bees were invaded. T. clareae mites on combs with eggs or on adult bees can survive for 1-2 days only. Adult mites are unable to feed on hemolymph of adult bees. Three methods are described to combat Tropilaelaps. Invasion of Apis mellifera by T. clareae in temperate zones where winter interruption of brood rearing occurs is not expected. But T. clareae can create real problems for beekeeping in tropical zones of all continents. INTRODUC1'ION The major difficulty encountered after the introduction of Apis mellifera into tropical Asia was caused by the ectoparasitic bee mite Varroa jacobsoni, which naturally parasitizes Apis cerana, and Tropilaelaps clareae, which parasitizes Apis dorsata (CRANE, 1968 ; K EVAN et al., 1984). Invasion of A. mellifera colonies by T. clareae appears to be more destructive than that by V. jacobsoni and some believe that T. clareae could become a more serious pest of honeybees worldwide than V. jacobsoni (BuarETT et al., 1983). The major question regarding T. clareae concerns its potential escape from tropical Asia and whether it could become established on A. mellifera in tem-perate regions (BuacETT et al., 1983 ; B URGETT and K RANT Z, 1984). Adult T. clareae can survive without food for two days (A KRATANA K UL , 1984). Depriving colonies of brood by destroying it or by caging the queen for 21 days decreases the mite population. The life span of T. clar-eae on adult bees has not yet been recorded. This was the main question studied in the present investigation. I have also tested a method to combat the mite without the use of drugs. Some of these investigations should be repeated and some results verified. However, due to the urgency of this problem I wish to present some preliminary results. MATERIAL AND METHODS This investigation was conductced in Afghanistan (W OYKE , 1984) in the area of Kabul in 1983-84. The presence of T. clareae in bee colonies was detected by uncapping sealed brood and searching for mites running on the surface of brood combs. More detailed investigations of brood invasion by T, clareae were conducted under a stereomicroscope. 50-100 sealed cells were opened and the number of cells invaded as well as the number of nymphs and adult mites in the individual cells were recorded. To determine the invasion of adult bees by the mite, several samples.