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Specific Cues Associated With Honey Bee Social Defence against Varroa destructor Infested Brood.

Fanny Mondet^1,2, Seo Hyun Kim², Joachim R de Miranda³

¹INRA, UR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, 84914 Avignon, France.

Scientific Reports

|May 4, 2016

Summary

Honey bees sacrifice mite-infested brood to protect the colony. Varroa-infested brood emit unique cues, allowing bees to selectively remove parasitized cells, a key social immunity behavior.

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Area of Science:

Entomology
Animal Behavior
Social Immunity

Background:

Social insects possess collective defense mechanisms known as social immunity.
Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) face significant threats from the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and its associated viruses.
Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) is a specialized honey bee behavior developed to combat Varroa mite infestations.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the mechanisms by which honey bees identify and selectively remove Varroa-infested brood.
To determine if uniquely identifiable cues are produced by mite-infested brood.
To understand the role of these cues in the varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) behavior.

Main Methods:

Observational studies of honey bee behavior in response to Varroa destructor infestation.
Analysis of brood cell characteristics and chemical cues associated with mite infestation.
Behavioral assays to assess the specificity of VSH-performing bees' responses to infested brood.

Main Results:

Varroa-infested brood produce distinct, identifiable cues.
These cues enable VSH-performing bees to accurately and selectively target parasitized brood cells for removal.
The VSH behavior demonstrates high specificity in identifying and sacrificing mite-infested brood.

Conclusions:

Honey bees utilize specific cues from infested brood to execute varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH).
This selective brood removal is a crucial social immunity strategy against Varroa mites and associated viruses.
The process is analogous to programmed cell death, sacrificing compromised individuals for colony survival.