Effect of Varroa infestation, at the pupal stage, on the transcriptome of newly emerged bees, maintained under artificial conditions. Apis mellifera

The parasitic mite Varroa destructor causes both direct and indirect damage to infested honeybees but precise information about the identity of the metabolic pathways that are affected is still missing. In order to gain a deeper knwoledge about the effects of parasitization at various levels, while reducing to the miminum the impact of possible confounding factors, a standardized experiment was carried out under artificial condition. Overall design: 15 Apis mellifera larvae (late fifth instar) were infested with none, one or three V. destructor mites (5 bees per treatment) and maintained in gealtin capsules, at 35 °C, 75% R.H., for 12 days; at eclosion, bees were individually extracted and the extract processed.