How long can varroa survive without feeding?
- Less than 48 hours.
- Up to 5 days.
- About 2 weeks.
- Up to 1 year.
Show answer
Correct answer: 2.
Up to 5 days.
Why?
Without access to a living bee to feed on, varroa survives only a few days. The benchmark of 5 days is therefore useful for understanding that this mite depends closely on its host.
What to understand
One must distinguish survival without food from survival on a bee. An adult female can live much longer when it remains on adult bees, in particular during a broodless period, because it can continue to feed.
In the brood, the situation is different: the males and the immature forms of varroa do not survive durably after the emergence of the parasitised bee. The cycle of the parasite therefore depends strongly on the presence of bees and brood at the right stage.
Key points
Varroa is not a parasite capable of surviving for a long time alone in the environment. Its dynamics at the apiary depend above all on living bees, on capped brood and on the possibility of passing from a phoretic phase to a reproductive phase.