This beast is learning how to eat European bees alive
November 22, 2016
Editor’s Note: Original in Spanish, translation via Google Translate.
From: La Vanguardia
A small arachnid so far only detected in Asian bees adds to the threats to the survival of honey producers
Varroa jacobsi, a mite or small arachnid that until now only mortally attacked Asian bees (Apis cerana), is rapidly developing the ability to parasitize European bees (also known as domestic bees or honey bees, Apis mellifera ). The first cases of Varroa jacobsi attacking European bee hives were documented in 2008 in Papua New Guinea and now a new study describes the genetic characteristics that are making it possible for this species of mite to become a new global threat for bees producing of honey.
The results of this research led by experts from Purdue University in West Lafayette, United States, have been published in the journal BMC Genomics (16 November). The authors explain that so far only varroa jacobsi attacks on honey bees are known in Papua New Guinea but warn that, as has happened with other mites, this parasite joins the serious threats that affect bees Of honey in the whole planet.
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