Tropilaspe the latest mite.

4090 Views 35 Replies 13 Participants Last post by clyderoad, 3 mo ago

Struttinbuck

Discussion Starter · Mar 10, 2021

Research from Asia. This is out of a FB group I follow. And so far the research is only showing heat as being an effective treatment against the future invader. This is just a copy and paste.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/369...fa31RLUllMz1a81PJ0lCpUaDt5bWx&[B]tn[/B]=<,P-R
Lynn Williams
shared a post.
MtacnattfrcdhSup o6r aardt smhns9so:h4t2 AgreMmd ·

https://www.facebook.com/darwyn.fly...31RLUllMz1a81PJ0lCpUaDt5bWx&[B]tn[/B]=<,P-y-R
Darwyn Flynn
Mighty Mite Thermal Treatment Users

MtacnattfrcdhSup o5r aardt smhns7so:h0t2 PgreMmd ·
As many of you know, Dr. Ramsey’s conducted an extensive research project in Asia Varroa & Tropilaspe. With his research, he gathered much data the world was missing on Trops to help everyone better understand this parasite. Much of his work was comparative with varroa. One piece of that was to learn what methods are effective and are not. Mission accomplished. Like many researchers, he struggled learning how to use MMK. He did and learned that Trops can’t take the heat either. He well documented his work but it’s not fully published yet for all to read.
He is however doing speaking events while he is back in the USA. During these events, he is sharing his results. Many clubs have reached out to him to do presentations via Zoom. I’m surprised he’s doing it as cheap as he is but I’m pasting the information below in case any club leaders in this group would like to schedule him for your clubs. Louisa is the contact for scheduling Sammy’s presentations.
$400 to clubs all over the USA.
Reserve a date for your club by contacting
[email protected]

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msl

· #2 · Mar 10, 2021

Struttinbuck said:
And so far the research is only showing heat as being an effective treatment against the future invader

Rubbish, you might look at research, not facebook
the most common treatment is a brood break , notably 2 day old bee packages will be Tropilaelaps free as they die in 2 days on adult bees with out brood to feed on. Their mouth is too small/weak to feed on adult bees

Laboratory studies investigating survival of adult female T. mercedesae showed similar trends. Koeniger and Muzaffar (1988) observed Tropilaelaps mites to survive for up to 25 h on adult bees of A. mellifera, 27 h on A. cerana, and 57 h on its native host, A. dorsata. Likewise, maintaining workers at both ambient and broodnest conditions, Rinderer et al. (1994) confirmed that most T. mercedesae survive for only 1 d on adult A. mellifera workers. However, some individuals survived up to 3 d. Likely reasons for shortened life span on adults bees are because of a lack of morphological adaptations for attachment (Delfinado-Baker et al. 1992), and their inability to feed on adult bees

Interruption of brood rearing results in an absence of suitable larval hosts, which forces Tropilaelaps mites to stay on adult bees. Since Tropilaelaps mites cannot survive on adult bees for a long period of time, this technique leads to the death of most mites in the colonies. Queens can be caged for 9 d and all capped brood destroyed (Woyke 1984, 1985). If brood is not destroyed, they can be placed in other colonies that are either queenless or have caged queens. Queens can also be caged for >21 d until all brood has emerged (Woyke 1993).

Formic acid, thymol, and a combination of thymol and oxalic acid showed highest efficacy against Tropilaelaps mites (Garg et al. 1984, Hoppe et al. 1989, Mahmood et al. 2011, Mahmood et al. 2012, Raffique et al. 2012). However, >2 ml of 60% formic acid applied onto a sponge per Langstroth comb can cause damage to bees (Ritter and Akratanakul, 2006). Thymol mixed with D-limonene, applied as a smoke or fumigant, reduced Tropilaelaps mite populations in colonies in South Korea (Choi et al. 2012). Tobacco smoke (tobacco placed inside the smoker) also caused mites to drop off bees (Anderson and Roberts 2013). Recently, lemon grass oil delivered through porous ceramics to control evaporation rates has been successfully used as a hive fumigant by lowering Tropilaelaps mite population in Thailand (Booppha et al. 2010)

chemicals used for Varroa control are also effective. Apistan (fluvalinate), Checkmite+ (coumaphos), and Bayvarol (flumethrin) have been used to treat A. mellifera colonies against Tropilaelaps mites in some regions of Asia (Lubinevski et al. 1988, Burgett and Kitprasert 1990, Camphor et al. 2005, Kongpitak et al. 2008). Applied as strips, both Apistan and Checkmite+ negatively affect the reproductive fitness of drones or the performance of queens (Rinderer et al. 1999, Haarmann et al. 2002, Burley et al. 2008). Strips of filter papers soaked in 15% potassium nitrate and 12.5% of amitraz solution are also used as a hive fumigant to suppress Tropilaelaps mites (Anderson and Roberts 2013). Four applications of 200 mg of precipitated sulfur per frame at 7-d intervals have also been recommended to control Tropilaelaps mites in India (Garg and Sharma 1988).

academic.oup.com

Ecology, Life History, and Management of Tropilaelaps Mites

Abstract. Parasitic mites are the major threat to the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera L. For much of the world, Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman singl

academic.oup.com

most of the softs work

https://www.scholarly-journals.com/sjas/archive/2014/January/pdf/Mahmood%20et%20al.pdf

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Chemical and cultural control of Tropilaelaps mercedesae mites in honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies in Northern Thailand

At least two parasitic mites have moved from Asian species of honeybees to infest Apis mellifera. Of these two, Varroa destructor is more widespread globally while Tropilaelaps mercedesae has remained largely in Asia. Tropilaelaps mites are most problematic ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

www.researchgate.net

(PDF) Control of Tropilaelaps clareae Mite by Using Formic Acid and Thymol in Honey Bee Apis mellifera L. Colonies

PDF | The proposed research work was conducted in March, 2008 at Honeybee Research Institute of National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad on Apis... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

www.researchgate.net

long and short this is not some vague threat no one has heard of, 1st found on a dead out in 1961, beekeepers have been dealing with it for along time

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/20997#page/7/mode/1up

\

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GregB

· #3 · Mar 10, 2021

This mite is a concern for the tropical beeks only - it requires non-stop brooding.
We up here can snooze under the snow piles.
Not a worry.

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msl

· #4 · Mar 10, 2021

I would not got that far, it can still show up on a truck and wipe you before winter..
Its introduction could have far reaching consequences to the pollination trade and the food supply

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Struttinbuck

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 10, 2021

I myself am just tired of seeing everything from the blight take out the old American Chestnut trees pretty much to extinction, the zebra mussel turn the great lakes into the greatest freshwater fishery to EH! And now all the insects either giving humans a new virus or making other insects go extinct. Oh and uh dont forget how clean and clear the reservoirs use to be, they may have had alot of vegetation way back, but the water was clear. You use to drive over a reservoir and the water looked dark. Because of the angle you were looking at it. Now all the lakes look like tan or red mud. Thats from the new algae blooms we have. And hoof and mouth disease in our deer? Yea, come get some.

John Davis

· #6 · Mar 10, 2021

Mr. Struttinbuck you may want to do some more complete thinking about the connections you are making between impacts to the environment and what the root causes are as well as Sammy Ramsey's presentation.
Chestnut blight did wipe out most of the native chestnuts.
Water quality issues are mostly man made as a result of our allowing effluent from people and industry to enter the water bodies.
The industrial attitude that "the solution to pollution is dilution " is biting us.
The zebra mussel is an invasive species but is a filter feeder and has actually cleaned up the Great Lakes water allowing fish to thrive.
Sammy has not finished his research projects due to covid travel restrictions - from his presentation last fall.

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GregB

· #7 · Mar 10, 2021

msl said:
I would not got that far, it can still show up on a truck and wipe you before winter..
Its introduction could have far reaching consequences to the pollination trade and the food supply

Fair enough.

Struttinbuck

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 10, 2021

John Davis said:
Mr. Struttinbuck you may want to do some more complete thinking about the connections you are making between impacts to the environment and what the root causes are as well as Sammy Ramsey's presentation.
Chestnut blight did wipe out most of the native chestnuts.
Water quality issues are mostly man made as a result of our allowing effluent from people and industry to enter the water bodies.
The industrial attitude that "the solution to pollution is dilution " is biting us.
The zebra mussel is an invasive species but is a filter feeder and has actually cleaned up the Great Lakes water allowing fish to thrive.
Sammy has not finished his research projects due to covid travel restrictions - from his presentation last fall.

I just wonder how long tropilaspe has been around and why it hasnt reared its ugly head sooner. I'm not buying too many more of these exotic creatures just showing up because. Weve been trading with Asia for a long time.
Oh and guess what the cure for the American Chestnut is. G Modding them.
Virginia Tech had a descent program trying to revive the tree but I think they gave up. The ACF had a breeding program and the ACFF has a g modd program.
The G Modd program had an application for approval through the FDA last year but I havent checked to see if it was approved yet.
Oh, the walleye Capitol of the world is gone because of zebra mussels. Sure theres still some good walleye fishin but it will never be the same. The western basin was much more shallow than the east end. And some of the locations were made famous because of it. Now you have walleye in the rivers in the west end but the only good fishing is in the deep end now because of too much sunlight. Those zebra mussel are eating up the good algae. And I dont think there are any creatures that eat zebra mussel.

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Gray Goose

· #9 · Mar 10, 2021

GregV said:
This mite is a concern for the tropical beeks only - it requires non-stop brooding.
We up here can snooze under the snow piles.
Not a worry.

an assumption.
many beeks in Canada get bees from New Zeeland or Australia.
that will be the path. tropics to Southern place to Canada.

was a time Varroa was not here as well.

GG

msl

· #10 · Mar 10, 2021 (Edited)

Struttinbuck said:
I just wonder how long tropilaspe has been around and why it hasnt reared its ugly head sooner.

a few years longer then varroa

msl said:
1st found on a dead out in 1961, beekeepers have been dealing with it for along time

that should read first found on AM
The rest is simple, the more we have the cabuilotys to move bees around the more we move outher things with them... it didn't "just" rear its uglyhead, its been there, its just now in pop beekeeping culture, and hasn't changed its native range very much at all ..

Struttinbuck said:
I don't think there are any creatures that eat zebra mussel.

blue crabs migrating up river do

Gray Goose said:
many beeks in Canada get bees from New Zeeland or Australia.
that will be the path. tropics to Southern place to Canada.

true, but it will be like small hive beetle here (colorado) they come in, but they don't last
as they are transporting packages, the chance for a problem is limited, and if an out break happens, it will be gone in by spring...

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GregB

· #11 · Mar 10, 2021

Gray Goose said:
an assumption.
many beeks in Canada get bees from New Zeeland or Australia.
that will be the path. tropics to Southern place to Canada.

was a time Varroa was not here as well.

GG

Basically I mean - this new mite cannot sustain long-term up here due to brood-less period in winter.
But as I conceded - it could do a short-term damage during a given brooding period.

This "new" mite is actually very very old - much older than Varroa (as MSL already noted).
This "new" mite also is much, much closer geographically to the Europe.
It had many more opportunities in time and space to jump already - its own biology holds it back.

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Gray Goose

· #12 · Mar 10, 2021

GregV said:
Basically I mean - this new mite cannot sustain long-term up here due to brood-less period in winter.
But as I conceded - it could do a short-term damage during a given brooding period.

This "new" mite is actually very very old - much older than Varroa (as MSL already noted).
This "new" mite also is much, much closer geographically to the Europe.
It had many more opportunities in time and space to jump already - its own biology holds it back.

lets hope it hold back for a long time.

GG

GregB

· #13 · Mar 10, 2021

Gray Goose said:
lets hope it hold back for a long time.

GG

It will hold.
(just as the average 9-month pregnancy in the humans will hold for as long as you and I are alive).

In varroa case, there was not change in the life cycle.
It was a host switch whilst the same life cycle continued.

Now, IF the management methods promote end-less brooding and seasonal migration - that is a different story completely.
Say, the bees moved to Florida for winter and brought to N. Dakota in summer - that kind of a thing is terrible in the context of the Tropilaelaps spp.
Takes no biology change to do the damage.
Meanwhile A. m. mellifera is already a host for the Tropilaelaps spp - has been for long time.

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GregB

· #14 · Mar 10, 2021 (Edited)

OK, I became curious and did some googling on the subject.

So I stand corrected - the situation maybe worse than I thought it was.
The ability to survive the brood-less period is already documented.

However, it was confirmed that some T. mercedesae mites did survive the winter in broodless A. mellifera colonies (Wang et al. 1984). Several beekeepers reported a few cases where T. mercedesae were found on adult honey-bees in wintering colonies (Mo 2003). Because of a rapid reproductive rate, T. mer-cedesae can easily multiply to a threatening threshold and cause severe problems in the colony after spring.

www.researchgate.net

(PDF) Current Status of the Beekeeping Industry in China

PDF | China is a country with high honeybee diversity, long history of beekeeping and large amount of managed honeybee colonies. Based on the... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

www.researchgate.net

Which, again, points to the migratory practices as being the major source of our problems (current and future).

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HaplozygousNut

· #15 · Mar 11, 2021 (Edited)

GregV said:
This mite is a concern for the tropical beeks only - it requires non-stop brooding.
We up here can snooze under the snow piles.
Not a worry.

They found T. mercedesae mites living on mice in South Korea in winter I believe. That could be how they are getting through the broodless periods of winter.

Although it does help to overwinter colonies in colder areas I have read beekeepers have done in South Korea (did they move hives up to the mountains each winter?).

GregB

· #16 · 6 mo ago

Bump.

There are now cases of the Tropi-mite in Southern Russia (and by extension possibly in Ukraine?).

At this time any importation of the queens from that area sounds like a bad idea.

Here is a live case - somewhere in Sochi, RU area:
(889) Тропилелапсоз на пасеке. - YouTube

Oldtimer

· #17 · 6 mo ago

Control of Tropilaelaps is done by treating 4 times during the season, as opposed to the normal 2 times for varroa.

I have not previously heard of them surviving broodless periods, perhaps this is a particular variant. Generally if they were introduced to Canada they would go extinct each winter.

As stated they do reproduce much faster than varroa.

Unlike varroa they have not been very successful at spreading to EHB colonies throughout the world.

Reactions: 1

A Novice

· #18 · 6 mo ago

Struttinbuck said:
I just wonder how long tropilaspe has been around and why it hasnt reared its ugly head sooner. I'm not buying too many more of these exotic creatures just showing up because. Weve been trading with Asia for a long time.
Oh and guess what the cure for the American Chestnut is. G Modding them.
Virginia Tech had a descent program trying to revive the tree but I think they gave up. The ACF had a breeding program and the ACFF has a g modd program.
The G Modd program had an application for approval through the FDA last year but I havent checked to see if it was approved yet.
Oh, the walleye Capitol of the world is gone because of zebra mussels. Sure theres still some good walleye fishin but it will never be the same. The western basin was much more shallow than the east end. And some of the locations were made famous because of it. Now you have walleye in the rivers in the west end but the only good fishing is in the deep end now because of too much sunlight. Those zebra mussel are eating up the good algae. And I dont think there are any creatures that eat zebra mussel.

Baudette MN proudly claims the title of WALLEYE CAPITOL OF THE WORLD and the fishing there is still pretty good. Lake of the Woods still is the only major walleye lake in the world that has never been stocked with fish. No need.

You should see the stringer in Sportsman's lodge, caught by Ed Holte. 6 walleyes all over 8 pounds. A good day's fishing.

Agreed that global trade has resulted in massive die offs of local flora and fauna all over the world.

However, I think most of the damage has been done.

HaplozygousNut

· #19 · 6 mo ago

GregB said:
Bump.

There are now cases of the Tropi-mite in Southern Russia (and by extension possibly in Ukraine?).

At this time any importation of the queens from that area sounds like a bad idea.

Here is a live case - somewhere in Sochi, RU area:
(889) Тропилелапсоз на пасеке. - YouTube

Oh, no! I hope they don't come to the US too soon. It would be very hard to keep bees if they infested our colonies. If they all die I might even have to wait many years before raising bees again.

William Bagwell

· #20 · 6 mo ago

HaplozygousNut said:
Oh, no! I hope they don't come to the US too soon. It would be very hard to keep bees if they infested our colonies. If they all die I might even have to wait many years before raising bees again.

Will certainly be more difficult... Thermal, formic, brood breaks, moving north

are all options. Plus what ever @Oldtimer uses at 2X frequency

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