CATCH THE BUZZ New Varroa Trap?

CATCH THE BUZZ

Varroa Trap Seems To Work

Alan Harman

A new bait could see Varroa mites literally walking into a trap.

   Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Gainesville, Fla., are testing a bait-and-kill approach using sticky boards and natural chemical attractants called semiochemicals.

   For patenting reasons, Teal won’t reveal what the specific compounds are, other than to say they’re naturally produced by honey bees and highly attractive to Varroa mites.

   Varroa mites rely on these semiochemicals to locate - and then feed on - the bloodlike hemolymph of both adult honey bees and their brood. Severe infestations can decimate an affected hive within several months and rob the beekeeper of profits from honey or pollinating services.

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But in this case, the mites encounter a more heady bouquet of honey bee odors that lure the parasites away from their intended hosts and onto the sticky boards, where they starve.

   ARS Chemistry Research Unit research leader Peter Teal reports preliminary tests of the attractant are promising.

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“We are able to induce 35% to 50% of mites to drop off of bees when we present them with either of the two attractants, and more than 60% of free mites are attracted to these chemicals in biological tests,” Teal says.

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Teal says the extra dose of semiochemicals wafting through hives didn't appear to significantly interfere with the honey bees' normal behavior or activity.

   The research team hopes ARS' patenting of the Varroa mite attractants will encourage an industrial partner to develop the technology further.

  The original report can be found at:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jul09/mites0709.htm

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