Mite biting bees
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mite biting is one of the behavioral mechanisms of honey bees used to fight off the ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor.[1][2][3][4] This behavior has been studied since the late 1990s for honey bee breeding and improvement of honeybee stocks towards mite resistance.[5][6] Krispn Given and Dr. Greg Hunt at Purdue University started a hierarchical selective breeding program in 1997–present for increased mite-biting and grooming behavior of European honey bee (Apis mellifera). A group of Midwest bee breeders visiting the Purdue bee lab were inspired to start the Heartland Honey Bee Breeders Cooperative as a result of their pioneering work.[7]
The Bee Research Lab at Central State University led by Dr. Hongme Li-Byarlay [8] has studied the grooming and mite-biting behavior and selected mite resistant stocks since the fall of 2017 and discovered that morphological changes in the bee mandibles may explain the better mite-biting behavior in the breeding stocks.[9] CSU stocks are called Ohio mite Biter #1 (OB1) stocks in Central Ohio by integrating genetics from Ohio feral colonies.[10][11][12]
