Seasonal prevalence of Asian honeybee ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman, 2000 in Madanpokhara Apiaries, Palpa, Nepal
Abstract
The present study highlights the prevalence and seasonal variation of Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman, 2000 in Apis cerana colonies at two apiaries (site I and II) in Madanpokhara, Palpa district, Nepal. Altogether 498 Varroa mites were collected from February to October, 2017. The highest and lowest number of Varroa mite were observed in March and September respectively. The mites were observed higher in brood cells (54.84 % and 52.51 %) and lower in adult bees (10.39 % and 9.59 %) in site I and site II respectively. The inner hive and outer temperature in site I and II were ranged from 30oC to 34oC and 24 oC to 32.4oC, 30 oC to 33.5 oC and 25.1 oC to 32.3 oC respectively. Similarly, inner and outer hive humidity ranged from 41 % to 61% and 40 % to 68%, 40% to 60% and 41 % to 65% at site 1 and 2 respectively, differed significantly and correlated positively with mite population. Concern for honeybee health and conservation along with Nepali apiculture are also discussed in this paper.
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