Superbees for a sticky situation

Mites feed off bee larvae and stunt their growth
(Image: IACR-Rothamsted)

By BBC News Online's Anne Lavery

Scientists are mating resilient French bees to their Canadian cousins in an attempt to breed mite-resistant superbees.

Bee populations around the world have plunged due to the spread of Varroa jacobsoni mites that feed off the blood of bee larvae.

This has caused severe knock-on effects to the honey industry and forced up consumer prices.

But a few bees are resisting the mite onslaught and researchers hope they can breed from them.

Professor Gard Otis of the University of Guelph and his colleagues have relocated 29 of the hardiest French queen bees to hives on a quarantined island off the coast of Canada. So far the bees are thriving.

Professor Otis's first job will be to make sure that the French bees and their offspring are just as resistant to Canadian mites. If they are, a line of superbees will be bred and distributed to Canadian beekeepers.

A similar project is underway in the USA marrying American and Russian bees.

Varroa spreading

"Our project is not alone," says Professor Otis. "In fact, I believe our only hope for success is to combine all these potentially resistant stocks to try to consolidate the traits into a single diverse population of bees."

Professor Otis is not yet sure why the French bees are better at surviving Varroa. Initial observations reveal a number of open cells among patches of sealed brood (pupae).

Varroa jocobsoni is only 1.1 mm long
(Image: IACR-Rothamsted)

This suggests that some of the bees may be removing the contents (bee pupae and mites) of infested brood cells. Other possibilities are reduced fertility of mites on the French brood and better grooming by French bees.

Varroa only spread to Canada and parts of Europe in the early 90s. This year, Varroa were confirmed in New Zealand, leaving Australia as the only major Varroa-free region in the world.

Until now, farmers have been combating the mites with chemical pesticides but mites in the US are becoming resistant, and Canadian farmers fear the day that these supermites cross the border.