Honeybees that groom better may repel deadly mites better, says researcher

About 85 per cent of honeybee colonies have a problem with tiny insect vampires called mites, whichcan be deadly, but new research shows that there may be a solution: breeding bees that are naturally better groomers.

ProfessorErnestoGuzman at the University of Guelphjoined researchers from Purdue University in Indiana on a study showingsome honeybees may be better at fending off varroa mites simply by being good groomers.And apparently, it's all in their genes.

Their research was published in the May edition of the journal Behaviour Genetics.

"The varroamites feed on the blood of honey bees and they reproduce on their larvae and pupae. And they feed on the bee blood in both larvae and adult bees. They pierce the soft tissues of the bee and suck their blood," Guzman told CBC News.

"In addition to that, they transmit viruses to the bees, and these viruses end up killing the bees. There are two types of damagehere. One, the bee is debilitated because she looses bloodand two, the bee's infected with deadly viruses. So it's a very damaging creature to the bee," he explained.

But varroa mites are extremely common, and flourish around the world. Guzman says that at least 85 per cent of bee colonies in any given country are expected to have the mites, no matter if the bees are domestic or feral.

"So the idea of eradicating, that is completely eliminating, the mite population, it's nearly impossible. It's like the idea of eradicating or eliminating ticks, they exist because there are many hosts and it is difficult to eradicate them all," he said.

Many beekeepers may use miticides, or chemcials, designed to kill the mites. However, the mite populations eventually develop resistance to the miticides, said Guzman, and there are also questions about whether those chemicals can contaminate honey or beeswax.

One alternative solution is breeding bees that are resistant to the mite and to do that, you need to figure out which mechanisms provide resistance to the bees, said Guzman.

The grooming behaviour looks promising at reducing the number and impact of mites in a hive, he said.

The researchers will conduct more studies with the Ontario Bee Breeders association, according to Guzman.