Erroneous conclusions about the high resistance of Russian bees to Varroa mite infestation made in 1998 based on experiments conducted in Louisiana, USA.

 In terms of our previous conversation about the reliability of conclusions made as a result of experiments, I want to say that this does not always depend on the representativeness of the sample. In the two articles below, the analysis of which we published in our journals, in our opinion, scientists made a number of mistakes that led to a conclusion that is radically opposite to the correct one.

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Let's look at one of the early articles by Mr. Rinderer and company, written based on the results of a comparative experiment with Russian and local bees to confirm the greater Varroa resistance of Russian bees compared to the local bee with Italian roots.

Resistance to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor in honey bees from far-eastern Russia Thomas E. RINDERERa*, Lilia I. DE GUZMANa, G.T. DELATTEa, J.A. STELZERa, V.A. LANCASTERb, V. KUZNETSOVc, L. BEAMANa, R. WATTSa, J.W. HARRISa a USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics & Physiology Laboratory, 1157 Ben Hur Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70820-5502, USA b Neptune & Company, Inc. 1505 15th Street, Suite B, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA c Institute of Biology and Pedology, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690022, Russia (Received 15 February 2001; revised and accepted 18 May 2001)

In it, they actively demonstrate the superiority of Russian bees over local bees in terms of resistance to Varroa mites. The data obtained at the experimental apiary over 2 years of observations and control of mite infestation in families of the local and Russian breeds should have convinced everyone that the difference in resistance to Varroa mites is colossal, and it is necessary, accordingly, to promote this breed on the US market. But, we want to say that, unfortunately, the experiment was not carried out well and the conclusions were incorrect! But at first, let's read the summary of the article and add our comments ...

The main problem with this experiment is that the apiaries were set up in Louisiana, a place with warm winters and hot summers. However, Russian bees have the peculiarity of starting brood rearing late and finishing it early. Accordingly, the main factor that influences the size of the mite population in their families is the number of months without brood or with a minimal amount of it.

This is clearly visible in the figure. In the families of Russian bees, designated by the symbol P in the diagram, the increase in the number of mites begins only in April. It is clearly visible that approximately the same number of mites in the families occurs - in Russian in April, and in local in February! At least 2 months difference!

In addition, it is clearly visible that in August the number of mites in Russian bee families already drops sharply. This is evident both from the data of 1998 and from the data of 1999. At the same time, in the families of local bees the level of mite infestation does not drop, but grows all autumn and winter! The reason is that in the families of local, American bees, designated by the symbol D in the diagram, the brood was present all winter. The text of the article explains why there is no data for December 1998 and January 1999 - they were afraid of chilling the brood! As a result, the population growth began not only with values ​​2-3 times greater, as can be seen from the data of autumn 1998, but also 3-4 months earlier than in Russian bee families.

This is precisely what caused the Varroa mite population in local bee families to peak at 10,000 mites, while in Russian bee families there were only 4,000 mites. But this does not mean that they will live peacefully in the future. If not this fall, then next spring the mite population will definitely gain its deadly strength and all the bees will die just like the local American bees.

But that's not all! If you look at the table of mite population growth/decline coefficients obtained by our would-be experimenters, we will see full confirmation of our findings! The Varroa mite population growth coefficients in families of both breeds were almost identical! For the local breed - 4.06, for the Russian - 3.39. The difference can be determined by the condition of the families and nothing more! At the same time, it is clearly visible that the peak of mite population growth in local families occurred in February-March, and in Russian families - in March-April! In addition, it is clear that the starting values ​​of mite infestation in June-July 1998 differed by 1.5 times! This also led to a sad result for local bees.

So, we can say that the experiment has definitely confirmed the almost complete absence of differences in the tolerance of bees of the American local breed and Russian bees from Primorsky Krai to Varroa mites! The conclusions made in the article are either a misunderstanding of the issue or the fulfillment of a commercial order from sponsors.