Free Access
Issue
Apidologie
Volume 24, Number 1, 1993
Page(s) 67 - 72
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:19930108
Apidologie 24 (1993) 67-72
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19930108

The distance between larva and cell opening triggers broodcell invasion by Varroa jacobsoni

B. Goetz and N. Koeniger

Institut für Bienenkunde (Polytechnische Gesellschaft), Fachbereich Biologie der JW Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a M, Karl-von-Frisch-Weg 2, 637 Oberursel 1, Germany

Abstract - The effect of the distance between larva and cell opening on Varroa invasion was examined. The infestation of open brood cells depends on this distance and not on larval size. Hence the concentration of a pheromone produced by the larva at a certain age is unlikely to be the only stimulus triggering invasion of brood cells.


Key words: Apis mellifera / capping behaviour / semiochemical / Varroa infestation