INVASION OF BEE SAMPLES WITH VARROA DESTRUCTOR

Abstract

The aim of this work was to estimate the level of infestation of bee samples infested with Varroa destructor. It has been performed a laboratory assay of bee samples for the presence of the mite Varroa destructor. The investigation was for a period of two years – 2015 and 2016. The bee samples were collected from diseased and dead bee colonies owned by 149 beekeepers. The result showеd that from 220 bee samples tested, 36% were positive for Varroa mite and negative samples were 64%. The level of infestation in positive samples was as follows: less than 5% were in 39.2% of samples, between 5 to 20% and more than 20% were found in 30.4% for each level, respectively. In conclusion more than a third of the bee samples were infested with Varroa mites. Most of the bee samples had a low degree of invasion (< 5%) and the average and the high level of invasion of bee samples were represented by the same values.