Does the Genotype of Honeybee Brood Influence the Attractiveness for Varroa Jacobsoni And/or the Reproduction of This Parasite?

Colony infestation by Varroa jacobsoni is the most serious problem for beekeeping worldwide. To study whether different genotypes of the host influence attractiveness for Varroa-mites or the reproduction of this parasite, a honeybee queen (Apis mellifera carnica) was inseminated with sperm from 4 drones from different Carnica-stocks. Shortly after egg laying, the brood combs were transferred to a colony which was infested with V. jacobsoni. After capping of cells, the brood was transferred from the foster colony to an incubator and was examined for infestation and reproduction by mites. The paternal descent of the bee brood (n = 400) was ascertained by DNA-analysis. No significant differences were found between the single bee patrilines according to their attractiveness (average infestation/cell) for the parasites. Out of the 99 brood cells which were infested with one mother-mite, 13% of the parasites proved to be infertile. There were no significant differences between bee patrilines in any of the reproduction parameters of Varroa. The use of these characters in breeding programmes should be critically examined.