Varroa Resistance Characters and Selection Protocols (Part 1 of 4) Ralph Büchler

A lecture given by Ralph Büchler at the 2019 National Honey Show entitled "Varroa Resistance Characters and Selection Protocols (Part 1 of 4)" The lecture is sponsored by E.H THORNE (BEEHIVES) LTD. The National Honey Show gratefully acknowledge the Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers for their support. Ralph Büchler Working with honey bees since his youth, Büchler studied agriculture and biology at Bonn University and finished his PhD in bee science. In 1990 he moved to the bee institute in Kirchhain which is one of the larger German training and research centres for beekeeping. Since 1997, he is leading the institute with its about 20 coworkers. Honey bee selection, disease resistance and alternative varroa treatment concepts are in the focus of Büchler´s research activities. He has participated in many national and international research projects like Smartbees, Coloss, Fitbee and is recently coordinating an EU study on varroa resistant stock and a national selection project on SMR. Büchler acts as the scientific adviser for the breeder association “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Toleranzzucht”. He is author of hundreds of papers, book contributions and scientific films. Varroa Resistance Characters and Selection Protocols Apis cerana as the natural host of Varroa destructor has developed effective resistance behaviors to cope with Varroa infestations without serious losses. And also from Apis mellifera several resistant populations are known by now which show interesting differences compared to susceptible populations. The mainly responsible characters of those resistant populations will be described. Together with the experience from different breeding programs a description of relevant characters and suitable testing protocols with regard to selective breeding will be given. Recent data on mite population development, hygiene behaviour, suppressed mite reproduction (SMR) and brood recapping (REC) will allow for a closer evaluation of the long term potential of resistant honey bees in European apiculture.