An update on Varroa destructor detected in Apis mellifera colonies on Guam, Saipan, and Tinian

Varroa mite, Varroa destructor, was identified on honeybees, Apis mellifera, collected from two feral hives located in southern Guam and a swarming hive in northern Guam. Six hives from Saipan and four hives from Tinian, in the Marianas Archipelago of the Western Pacific Basin, also contained varroa mites.  Hives on Guam and in the CNMI were surveyed as part of the USDA sponsored National Honey Bee Survey.  Guam, Saipan, and Tinian had previously been thought to be varroa mite free.  Surveys of domestic and feral hives throughout Guam, Saipan, and Tinian have revealed no Tropilaelaps mites.  Similarly, ongoing surveys of honeybees on the neighboring island of Rota have revealed no varroa or Tropilaelaps mites thus far.