Research Mixed Colony of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera and Its Application

Varroa destructor has been a main detriment to beekeeping of Apis mellifera that is weakly resistant to this parasitic mite. For the past decades, the primary method for varroa mite control has been chemical miticide,which would inevitably cause residues in bee products. In this assay, the sealed pupae of Apis cerana were added into Apis mellifera colonies. We intended to test that whether their strong ability of cleaning mite of Apis cerana help the mixed colonies to improve the resistance to varroa destructor. Our results indicated that a significant decline of mite level was detected for the mixed colonies.