ArticlePloS one2019
Mite bombs or robber lures? The roles of drifting and robbing in Varroa destructor transmission from collapsing honey bee colonies to their neighbors.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers.
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Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 111 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Widespread pyrethroid resistance in Varroa destructor in Türkiye: a molecular warning.Experimental & applied acarology · 2026Article
- Evaluation of late-season Varroa destructor treatments and their impact on amitraz resistant mite populations.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Longevity and foraging performance of honey bees treated with an RNAi-based Varroa destructor biopesticide.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Viruses and vectors tied to honey bee colony losses.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Oxalic acid vaporization: effectiveness against Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) and safety for Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2025Article
- Do honey phytochemicals modulate forager aggression and the gut microbiome in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)?Biology open · 2025Article
- The Molecular Drivers of Honey Robbing inInsects · 2025Article
- Treating newly split Apis mellifera honey bee colonies with organic miticides-an opportunity for Integrated Pest Management of Varroa destructor mites (Mesostigmata: Varroidae).Journal of economic entomology · 2025Article
- Observation of Tropilaelaps mercedesae (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) on Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) exiting colonies.Journal of economic entomology · 2025Article
- Spatiotemporal, environmental, and behavioral predictors of Varroa mite intensity in managed honey bee apiaries.PloS one · 2025Article
- Honey Robbing: Causes, Impacts and Preventive Measures.Insects · 2024Review
- Tracking Varroa Parasitism Using Handheld Infrared Cameras: Is Eusocial Fever the Key?Insects · 2024Article
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- Do Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) mite flows between Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies bias colony infestation evaluation for resistance selection?Journal of insect science (Online) · 2024Article
- Varroa destructor shapes the unique viral landscapes of the honey bee populations of the Azores archipelago.PLoS pathogens · 2024Article
- Combined treatment with amitraz and thymol to manage Varroa destructor mites (Acari: Varroidae) in Apis mellifera honey bee colonies (Hymenoptera: Apidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2024Article
- Effects of summer treatments against Varroa destructor on viral load and colony performance of Apis mellifera colonies in Eastern Canada.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
When honey bee colonies collapse from high infestations of Varroa mites, neighboring colonies often experience surges in their mite populations. Collapsing colonies, often called "mite bombs", seem to pass their mites to neighboring colonies. This can happen by mite-infested workers from the collapsing colonies drifting into the neighboring colonies, or by mite-free workers from the neighboring colonies robbing out the collapsing colonies, or both. To study inter-colony mite transmission, we positioned six nearly mite-free colonies of black-colored bees around a cluster of three mite-laden colonies of yellow-colored bees. We then monitored the movement of bees between the black-bee and yellow-bee colonies before, during, and after mite-induced collapse of the yellow-bee colonies. Throughout the experiment, we monitored each colony's mite level. We found that large numbers of mites spread to the black-bee colonies (in both nearby and distant hives) when the yellow-bee colonies collapsed from high mite infestations and became targets of robbing by the black-bee colonies. We conclude that "robber lures" is a better term than "mite bombs" for describing colonies that are succumbing to high mite loads and are exuding mites to neighboring colonies.
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