Feeding preferences of a honey bee parasitic mite (Varroa destructor)

Apis mellifera has a whole suite of forces working against it in a confluence of factors that we need to better understand in order to mitigate its decline.  Chief among these factors appears to be the ubiquitous nature of varroa mites in managed bee colonies over the past 4 decades. Very few studies if any have been conducted to verify the often repeated claim that varroa mites feed on the hemolymph of immature and adult bees. In this study we fed adult honey bees a lipophilic dye that would adhere to the fat body of the bee and a lipophobic dye that would remain in the hemolymph; the levels of which were then measured via spectrophotometer in varroa mites allowed to feed on those bees. In addition, bees with attached mites were vivisected and filmed to allow for observation of what tissues the mites mouth parts were imbedded. Honey bees were collected from a varroa mite infested colony maintained by the University of Maryland, Entomology Department and the placement of each mite on each honey bee was recorded. Results of these studies will be discussed.