Distribution of Acarapis woodi Rennie in the tracheae of honey bees

Abstract - Colonies infested by Acarapis woodi were analysed for the percentage of bilateral and unilateral infestations in the main tracheal trunks of infested bees. A χ² analysis demonstrated that the infestations were not randomly distributed in bee tracheae (p < 0.001, n = 1 512), but that more bilateral infestations occurred than expected. Calculations from literature data confirmed this observation. The possible reasons for the skewed distribution have been discussed.