A36-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 13, 1988
Unstoppable Asian Mites Endangering U.S. Honey Bees
ITHACA, N.Y. Parasitic
mites from Asia are threatening to
wipe out honey bees throughout
the United States, not only para
lyzing the nation’s beekeeping
industry, but also hampering polli
nation of many agricultural crops,
according to a Cornell University
entomologist.
At stake are several million hon
ey bee colonies that produce about
$l3O million worth of honey annu
ally. More importantly, the mite
infestation could seriously jeopar
dize the pollination of agricultural
crops, the value of which is esti
mated at $2O billion annually.
The scientist who issued the
warning is Professor Roger A.
Morse, one of the nation’s leading
authorities on honey bees. He
described the situation as the
“most serious” since European
honey bees were brought to this
continent more than three centu
ries ago.
He stressed the need to mount
major research efforts to meet the
new challenge and suggested that
countermeasures might include
chemical controls and develop
ment of honey bee strains that are
resistant to the pest.
The mite, whose scientific name
is Varroa jacobsoni, is about the
size of a pinhead less than one
millimeter (0.4 inch) in length. It
has eight legs, a hairy shell and a
sharp, two-pronged tongue for
feeding. It enters bee hives, attach
es itself to bee larvae and sucks
blood from its victims. It also
attacks pupae as well as adult
drone (male) and worker (female)
bees.
“If left unchecked, the mites can
destroy a whole colony in no
time,” Morse said.
Mite-infested bees weaken and
die prematurely, according to
Scott Camazine, a research associ
ate in entomology at Cornell. In a
recent study, Morse’s research
team found that adult bees suffered
as much as a SO percent reduction
in longevity even when attacked
by only a single mite. Pupae
infested with five or more mites
lost weight drastically; some of
them suffered deformations.
Morse conceded that nothing
can stop the mites from overrun
ning some 3.5 million honey bee
colonies, which are owned and
operated by 200,000 hobby bee
keepers and 1,600 commercial
beekeepers.
"We can be sure that within a
year and certainly within two
years they will have overrun all
honey bee colonies in the coun
try,” he predicted.
All honey bees in the United
States are descendants of the Euro
pean bees Apis mettffera. Honey
bees in North America have never
encountered the Asian mites
before, and therefore “are highly
susceptible to the invader,” Morse
said.
Morse, a professor and chair
man of the Department of Ento
mology in the College of Agricul
ture and Life Sciences at Cornell,
has studied the Asian mite exten
sively in Brazil over the past sever
al years where it maintains a
peaceful coexistence with African
ized bees, known more popularly
as the killer bees.
Morse explained that the mite
can spread rapidly because honey
bees don’t always remember the
location of their own colonies and
therefore often “drift” away and
join other colonies. Frequent raids
and takeovers of weaker colonies
also hasten the spread of the mite.
Moreover, tens of thousands of
colonies involving countless hon-
ey bees are moved around the
country each year to pollinate agri
cultural crops. According to
Morse, California, for example,
uses honey bees from 11 states to
pollinate almond trees each Febru
ary. Maine and Massachusetts also
rely on a large number of out-of
state bee colonies to pollinate cran
berry and blueberry crops.
Varroa originated in Asia. It
was first found in Indonesia in
1904, attacking the Asian honey
1 mßint 'I
\M
p[ REPLACER r
ULb« NetWL J\
[V r.
PANELS
DOUBLE DIPPED
GALVANIZED
'A ” Galv. Wire, 16’ Length
34” High Hog
Panel
52" High Cattle
Panel
2”x6” Meah Nunery
Panel* 34” High x 16’
Length $24.99 ea.
ZGREASE GUN =422^^71
MunnrwTT uvnacnM
Mechanic's
Creeper yW ){ t\\ ,>//
s£9s CIU
Easily rolls you under and out from beneath a car. Makes doing automotive
wor* more flexible '/» ” deck, 2% *’ rails, bolted on wheels. No 20P
1
Igjll j
i Anti*
Freeze
PHILLIPS 66
ANTI-FREEZE
$3.19/Gal.
IN CASE LOTS
$2.99/g*i.
25 Gil. Or More
WD-40
Stops Squeaks
9 oz.
$1.99 $11.99
bee Apis cerana. Since then, it has
spread all over Asia and other parts
of the world, including Europe,
North Africa, South America and
Central America. It showed up in
the Soviet Union as early as 1952.
It has been reported that Australia
is the only continent that remains
free of this mite.
‘The Asian mite now is the
world’s leading pest problem of
honey bees,” Morse pointed out.
How this pest got into the
IMBlnt
CALF
MILK
REPLACER
50 lb.
$16.99
$14.99 ea
$16.99 ea.
6’ Width
For Category I Tractors
Up To 35 H.P.
• Grading • Back Filling • Scraping
Reg. $4.99 ; Snow Removal • Landscaping
now $3.99 mL now $139.99
FARMECH 7 PC.
PROFESSIONAL
NUT DRIVER SET
Reg. $15.99
Gallon
SAVE NOW on
BMIpQLY tanks
• 550 Gal. Poly Tank $249
• 1050 Gal. Poly Tank.., $369
• 1550 Gal. Poly Tank... $449
Your Poly Tank Headquarters
Truckloads In Stock...
All Sizes Available I
\X7 WORKSAVER
‘EB” SERIES REAR BLADES
hg]
OfJEßrra LONG LIFE
g* JHJJ LIGHT BULBS
S na ■ /\ 25 Watt 130 V
09 v ( MU / 40 Watt 5000 Hr
«■-« -I p,, p^ t \ I JR]/ 60 Watt Case Lot
~ I Her Pack \ V 75 Watt (120 Bulbs)
CASE LOT ... nA \ flgH 100 Watt ,37/Bulb
(100 Packs) 535.00
'SSI 617 99 brooder
tpm '5? 1 / 125 W & zsowacar h J R EFLECXOR
H, r' . 1 Gal - Your ch °'« I \ ao qq
iuiJ $3.89 $1.29e., \IP* $3.99
now $13.99
8 OZ.
STARTING
FLUID
No 6752
79$
Line
'Freese
2952
United States is not known, but it
turned up in Wisconsin for the first
time in late September 1987. Its
presence has since been confirmed
in 10 other states New York,
Pennsylvania, Maine, Florida,
Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, South
Dakota, Mississippi and Nebraska.
Morse said that effective coun
termeasures might include newly
developed chemicals designed to
kill the Asian mite without harm
ing the honey bee. Fluvalinate,
D-CON
READY MIX
$7.99
$10.99
{ 4 lb
PIP
"gHJ!
YOUR TILLAGE HEADQUARTERS
\^ps7
O.E.M. Tillage Comes With Bolts & Nuts
Long Wear Rock Shares:
14” 16” 18” 0
$7.49 ea. $8.49 ea. $9.49ea.
Disc Blades I Diameter 1 Gauge I Sale Price I
Precision Sharp Edge
W 20” 9 10.99
0* * 20” 7 13.99
■L 22” 7 17.99
' " 24” V«” 29.99
■ Twisted Chisel Shins: an in stock
ft Spikes 0( m
irl 3"xV/’x23” Right-Left
/ $6.79 c. $5.99
UKM TIU*QI TOOLS
os. <[f| Your One Stof Hordmron - firm Suffty Store
if 1 farmsmm^
i ' " W f«*« We Accept I
ntlh* SI.. I’a. I7SS4 tOO 7}2 00Si 23 |ga
I’h 717-ir,4-U2l »»
. . -*
which is known by its trade name
Spur, has justbeen cleared with the
Environmental Protection Agency
for general use in the United
States, Morse reported. The chem
ical already has been used in Eur
ope for the past several years, thus
bringing the mite infestation under
control.
In addition to using the
chemical-control measure, the
Cornell scientist hopes to seek a
long-term solution to the problem
by developing resistant strains of
honey bees through breeding,
programs.
■RIFARMASTER
|M GATES
Hot Dip Galvanized <>’
BRAZILIAN 9000’ BALER TWINE
iisalana Fiber From Brazil!
100% Choice
BALING TWINE
: j mmt
Homier*
9,000 Ft
JUST
m
"V
imm
STRICTLY
FORMULATED
FOR LAMBS
25 lb.
$21.99
$27.99
$34.99
$37.99,
$42.99
$49.99
$54.99
12’
14’
16’
20 Or More Bales
$16*95 Et
While Supply Lutt
MX
Hardware