Splits Varroa: AAore Colonies, Fewer hkites, New Queens — What Could Be Better?

摘要

At a recent beekeeping meeting the question was asked if a split can be made to help control Varroa. The answer is yes, and the reason is Varroa's dependence on developing bee larvae. Varroa can only reproduce by entering a cell containing a mature larva ready to be capped. Once the cell is capped, Varroa begin to reproduce. They feed on the developing pupa's hemolymph vectoring viruses and ultimately weakening the emerging bee. This cycle then repeats for as long as there are larvae for Varroa to infest. Since more than one mature Varroa will emerge with a single adult bee, eventually the varroa population can overrun the bee population and the colony's viral load will cause extensive disease and ultimate collapse. Depending on the initial level of infestation, this can happen in as short an interval as a single season.