Expression of Suppression of Mite Reproduction in Drone Brood Cells of Honey Bees of Different Genotypic Groups in East Azarbaijan Province of Iran

Varroa destructor is an ectoparasitic mite of the honey bee and is a primary cause of colony loss of apicul-ture in the world. The aim of this study was to determine infestation levels and the suppression of mite re-production in drone brood cells of independent colonies. A number of East Azarbaijan native honey bee colonies were isolated for three years without treating against varroa. Then, seven genotypic groups were prepared with three colonies in each group: native survivors, F1 generation of Carniolan colonies, H1 gen-eration of survivor × commercial, H1 generation of Carniolan × survivor and commercial native colonies originated from three different regions of Maragheh, Bostan-Abad, and Varzeghan in the East Azarbaijan province. A total of 3268 fifteen to eighteen-days old drone pupae from twenty-one colonies were assessed for infestation and suppression of mite reproduction. The mean of drone pupae infestation percentage, re-producing mite percentage, mites reproducing more than three offsprings percentage, and fecundity number were found to be 45.20%, 76.13%, 40.69%, and 2.215, respectively. Significant differences were observed in the four studied traits between the understudy groups. The survivor group had the lowest mite infestation level and fertility (14.2% and 68.6%, respectively). Native commercials originated from the above three mentioned regions in the East Azarbaijan province had lower fecundity and lower number of mites repro-ducing more than three offsprings than other groups. Our results suggest that establishing varroa surviving colonies from native colonies can reduce varroa infestation and enhance the levels of suppression of mite reproduction (SMR). Moreover, a significant variation was observed within and between understudy groups in the colonies. Therefore, it can be concluded that selective breeding programs can enhance the levels of SMR.