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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Trevor Weatherhead <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 16 Jan 2015 07:53:28 +1000
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> >Does anyone have references to varroa being found in bumble bee nests 
> >or
> even on bumble bees themselves?

> Sure haven't.  The bumblebee life cycle and biology are so different from that of Apis mellifera that it is highly unlikely that varroa could make the > host jump.

I have had some good information sent to me off line and I am thankful for that.  To quote one section:-

Varroa mites have been found on flower feeding insects such as the bumblebee Bombus pennsylvanicus, the scarab beetle Phanaeus vindex and the flower-fly Palpada vinetorum (Kevan et al. 1990). Although the Varroa mite cannot reproduce on these insects, its presence on them may be a means by which it spreads short distances (phoresy)

I am not suggesting that varroa can reproduce on bumble bees. It is just that they, or their nests, could be a vector for varroa.  There have been attempts to bring bumble bees into Australia for glasshouse pollination and tomatoes.  So far they have been rejected.  One of our grounds for objection to the importation is the possibility of getting Varroa destructor which we don't have.

Trevor Weatherhead
Australia
 

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