If a fairly large bee population were left untreated, natural selection could ultimately lead to varroa-resistant hives. However, letting nature take its course in order to obtain resistant colonies would extract a high price, since the majority of the bee colonies, which are vulnerable to the parasite, would disappear. We therefore draw on examples of naturally resistant populations in Africa, Asia and Europe in order to understand the mechanisms necessary for survival in the event of a varroa mite infestation. The identification of these mechanisms could allow for their deliberate selection in our local bees.
Swarming in honey bees (Apis mellifera) and Varroa destructor population development in Sweden (PDF, 568 kB, 27.01.2017)
I. Fries, H. Hansen, A. Imdorf, P. Rosenkranz (2003)
