Apidologie 30 (1999) 173-182
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19990207

Susceptibility of European and Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to Varroa jacobsoni Oud. in Mexico

Ernesto Guzmán-Novoa^a, Rémy Vandame^b and Miguel E. Arechavaleta<sup>c

a</sup>  CENIFMA-INIFAP, Santa Crúz # 29-B, Las Hdas., 52140 Metepéc, Mexico
^b  Station de zoologie et apidologie, Inra, 84914 Avignon cedex 9, France
^c  Depto. Genética y Bioestadística, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, D.F., Mexico

Abstract - The knowledge generated from several studies conducted in Mexico on the susceptibility of European and Africanized honey bees to Varroa jacobsoni is reviewed and compared with the situation in Brazil. There is evidence of genotypic variation for mite population growth, and for tolerance to the mite in honey bee colonies located in Mexico. However, Mexican honey bees seem to be relatively less tolerant to the parasite than bees in Brazil. The main difference is that mite fertility rates in Mexico are higher than those reported from Brazil. Hypotheses for why the situation is different in Mexico than in Brazil are discussed. © Inra/DIB/AGIB/Elsevier, Paris

Key words: Varroa jacobsoni / tolerance / Apis mellifera / Africanized bee / Mexico