Vol. 8, Issue 7 (2019)

Author(s):
V Karthik, S Sheeba Joyce Roseleen and C Gailce Leo Justin

Abstract:
Honey bee colonies continue to decline in numbers all over the world due to various stressors, regular occurrence of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans, causes concern in Indian honey bees, Apis cerana F. An experiment with A. cerana colonies was conducted in 2018 to study the effect of keeping an open screened bottom over the solid bottom board and of dusting powdered sugar as physical methods to manage V. jocobsoni in A. cerana. During the 5 month study period, the physical methods caused more V. jacobsoni adults to fall down and get trapped on the solid bottom board through the open screen than those in control hives. However, there was no significant difference in the number of nymphs and adults of V. jacobsoni found inside the brood cells of both drones and workers. Hence, the dusting of powdered sugar was not alone effective and it is effective when incorporated with integrated management practices. The effect of sugar powder dusting is discussed.