Astonishingly, few studies have been done to assess genetic variation between A. mellifera taxa
regarding susceptibility (i.e. resistance and/or tolerance) to parasites, to eventually set up efficient
control methods. Nonetheless as emphasized by Best et al. (2008), identifying and understanding the
evolutionary dynamics of these two host defense mechanisms (i.e. tolerance and resistance) against
parasites is, however, crucial to our understanding of host/parasite interactions. This lack of
understanding may be one of the reasons for the controvert impact of N. ceranae and the difficulty to
link the number of spores with the appearance of symptoms. 

Other results and studies on subspecies-parasite associations strongly suggest that actual genetic 
variations between A. mellifera subspecies are too weak to induce specific responses against parasites.

Fontbonne, R., ... (2013). Comparative susceptibility of three Western honeybee taxa to the microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae.
Infection, Genetics and Evolution.
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