Varroa
Varroa spp. (Acari; Varroidae) - V. destructor, V. jacobsoni, V. underwoodi, V. rindereri
Ethiopia: There are no reports of high colony losses that are directly linked to the parasitic V. destructor mite, thus in Ethiopia it is not common to treat infested honey bee colonies chemically. It is believed, that honey bee populations in Africa may be more resistant against V. destructor due to several factors like climate conditions (i.e. almost no overwintering) (Muli et al. 2014; Pirk et al. 2015).
Indonesia: Several species of Varroa exist in Indonesia (V. destructor, V. jacobsoni, V. underwoodi, V. rindereri), known to infest different honey bee species and subspecies. Regarding the beekeeping with A. cerana, studies revealed, that V. destructor seems to be not economically important, not only due to the increased hygiene behavior of A. cerana. Though, increased grooming behavior of A. cerana in cleaning and removing Varroa mites is not only based on triggering by exogenous stimuli through visual and olfactory detection, but also on genetics. Unfortunately, there is no data about the infestation rate, nor the mortality rate of V. destructor relating to A. mellifera, although in a study of Anderson (1994) V. destructor was also found in colonies of A. mellifera (Anderson 1994; Diao et al. 2017; Gupta et al. 2014; Oldroyd & Nanork 2009; Rosenkranz et al. 2010).
