Varroa Tolerance In France Of Intermissa Bees From Tunisia And Their Naturally Mated Descendants: 1993-2004

In 1993 at Le Born near Toulouse, France 12 Apis mellifera intermissa queens from Tunisian colonies that had been naturally selected for tolerance to varroosis were tested against 12 unselected Apis melifera carnica queens. We wished to determine if the tolerance of the intermissa queens was genetic in origin or simply due to specific local conditions in Tunisia. Queens were placed in 2 kg swarms of varroa infested bees and allowed to develop without any treatments. Nine colonies from each group over wintered. After exposure to heavy varroa infestations one carnica and seven intermissa queens were still surviving in August 1994. From 1995 to 2004 the surviving experimental colonies hybridized with the local population of bees. The majority of these hybrids were tolerant to Varroa destructor indicating a genetic control of the tolerance.