Varroa‐Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) as a Potential Contributor to the Natural Survival of Ethiopian Honey Bees (Apis mellifera simensis) Against Varroa destructor Mite
4 affiliations
- 1Agricultural Biotechnology Division, Institute of Biotechnology Bahir Dar University Bahir Dar Ethiopia
- 2Sekota Dryland Agriculture Research Center Sekota Ethiopia
- 3International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) Nairobi Kenya
- 4Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA) Bahir Dar Ethiopia
Abstract
Although the Varroa destructor mite is the primary threat to honey bee ( Apis mellifera ), populations of A. m. simensis in Ethiopia naturally survive mite infestations without treatment. While general hygienic and grooming behaviors have been previously reported to contribute to the natural survival of this subspecies against Varroa mites, the role of Varroa‐sensitive hygiene (VSH) remains unknown. Here, we experimentally evaluated four VSH responses in worker brood cells of this subspecies artificially infested with a single mite (treatment) or opened and resealed without introducing a mite (control) across varying infested patch sizes (five, eight, and ten neighboring cells): untouched cells (UC), cell cap opened or partially opened (CO), brood and introduced mite removed (BMR), and introduced mite removed, brood retained, and cell recapped (MR). Our results revealed that VSH responses differed significantly between treatment categories and were significantly dependent on infested patch size. At five‐cell patch size, VSH responses did not differ between treatment categories, whereas eight‐ and ten‐cell patch sizes significantly increased the odds of BMR, MR and/or CO relative to UC by between five‐ and twenty‐nine‐fold. Model‐predicted probabilities showed that the removal response (BMR + MR) accounted for 64.9% and 83.7% in infested patches at eight and ten cells, respectively, compared with 21.5% and 23.1% in controls. The uncapping response (CO + BMR + MR) reached 71.2% and 89.8% in eight and ten cells compared with 33.1% and 30.2% in controls, respectively. Overall, these findings suggest VSH as an additional behavioral mechanism of Ethiopian honey bees against V. destructor .
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BibTeX
@article{tsegaye2026varroasensitive,
title = {{Varroa‐Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) as a Potential Contributor to the Natural Survival of Ethiopian Honey Bees (Apis mellifera simensis) Against Varroa destructor Mite}},
author = {Alemu Tsegaye and Tessema Aynalem and Mengistie Taye and Workneh Ayalew and Abebe Jenberie and Mary Chege and Tadelle Tefera and Beatrice Nganso},
journal = {Ecology and evolution},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/ece3.74461},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13673401},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Varroa‐Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) as a Potential Contributor to the Natural Survival of Ethiopian Honey Bees (Apis mellifera simensis) Against Varroa destructor Mite
AU - Alemu Tsegaye
AU - Tessema Aynalem
AU - Mengistie Taye
AU - Workneh Ayalew
AU - Abebe Jenberie
AU - Mary Chege
AU - Tadelle Tefera
AU - Beatrice Nganso
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Ecology and evolution
DO - 10.1002/ece3.74461
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13673401
AB - Although the Varroa destructor mite is the primary threat to honey bee ( Apis mellifera ), populations of A. m. simensis in Ethiopia naturally survive mite infestations without treatment. While general hygienic and grooming behaviors have been previously reported to contribute to the natural survival of this subspecies against Varroa mites, the role of Varroa‐sensitive hygiene (VSH) remains unknown. Here, we experimentally evaluated four VSH responses in worker brood cells of this subspecies artificially infested with a single mite (treatment) or opened and resealed without introducing a mite (control) across varying infested patch sizes (five, eight, and ten neighboring cells): untouched cells (UC), cell cap opened or partially opened (CO), brood and introduced mite removed (BMR), and introduced mite removed, brood retained, and cell recapped (MR). Our results revealed that VSH responses differed significantly between treatment categories and were significantly dependent on infested patch size. At five‐cell patch size, VSH responses did not differ between treatment categories, whereas eight‐ and ten‐cell patch sizes significantly increased the odds of BMR, MR and/or CO relative to UC by between five‐ and twenty‐nine‐fold. Model‐predicted probabilities showed that the removal response (BMR + MR) accounted for 64.9% and 83.7% in infested patches at eight and ten cells, respectively, compared with 21.5% and 23.1% in controls. The uncapping response (CO + BMR + MR) reached 71.2% and 89.8% in eight and ten cells compared with 33.1% and 30.2% in controls, respectively. Overall, these findings suggest VSH as an additional behavioral mechanism of Ethiopian honey bees against V. destructor .
SN - 2045-7758
ER -