A Summary of the Varroa-Virus Disease Complex in Honey Bees

Abstract

Varroa destructor destroys colonies of European races of the West honey bee (Apis mellifera) in two ways through ectoparasitic feeding on the mature and immature bees and by transmitting the viruses among bees. Researchers have shown that these mites transmit a number of viro-pathogens, but there has been no compendium of those pathogens to indicate to the beekeeping industry the breadth and extent of the problem.