Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A January 2019 PMID 30647116

feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph.

Samuel D Ramsey, Ronald Ochoa, Gary Bauchan, Connor Gulbronson, Joseph D Mowery, Allen Cohen, David Lim, Judith Joklik, Joseph M Cicero, James D Ellis, David Hawthorne, Dennis vanEngelsdorp

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Mentions

Peak: 7 in Jan 2019

across 4 sources since Jan 2019

Extended reach

23,178

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Total likes

445

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15,921

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Jan 2019 – Sep 2025

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Facebook14 posts
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AI synopsis

What people are saying

The majority of posts reinforce that mites feed on bee fat body tissue, with some sharing detailed observations about mite location and behavior, using words like 'interesting' and 'challenging' to underscore the significance of these findings. Participants connect the research to practical concerns, emphasizing its potential to reshape current understandings and practices in apiculture.

AgreementStrong agreement

Most posts agree with the publication's findings, emphasizing that varroa mites primarily feed on fat body tissue, not hemolymph, with some recommended readings supporting this shift in understanding.

InterestHigh interest

Discussions show high interest, referencing detailed behaviors of mites, their feeding locations, and implications for bee health, indicating engagement with the scientific details.

EngagementModerate engagement

Posts include sharing of observations, links to other articles, and even questions about practical applications, reflecting a moderate level of deep engagement.

ImpactHigh impact

The discussions highlight potential impacts on bee management and pesticide detoxification, suggesting this research could influence beekeeping practices and further studies.

Abstract in brief

The parasitic mite primarily feeds on honey bee fat body tissue, not hemolymph, damaging the bees' immune system and other vital functions.
Experiments using fluorescent biostains and electron microscopy showed that mites consume fat body tissue, which is crucial for bee health, rather than hemolymph.
Mites fed with fat body tissue survived longer and produced more eggs, indicating that the fat body is essential to their development and challenging previous beliefs about their diet.]

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New Insights into Varroa Mite Feeding on Honey Bees' Fat Body Tissue

Varroa mites feed primarily on honey bee fat body tissue rather than hemolymph, damaging vital bee functions. This revelation, based on recent research using advanced microscopy, impacts how we understand Varroa's role…

Imkerei Sester · Aug 22, 2022 8,346 views

Honeybee Age Plasticity and Effects of Varroa Mite Infestation

Honeybees do not age as steadily as humans. Summer and winter bees have different lifespans, and queens are unique. Worker bees can physiologically revert to a younger state under certain conditions. Varroa mites target…

Imkerei Sester · Jul 18, 2022 7,575 views

Habibee

@TheHolyHabibee · X

Right there in the title: "Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph" Ramsey et al., 2019 https://t.co/KqH61xZKzd

Sep 7, 2025 · 36 followers View post →

Laura Hertel

@LauraHertel8 · X

@wilder_action WOW! Nice shot! Apparently varroa mites localize to a bee's head/thorso when they are "questing for transfer to a passing bee", while when feeding, they attach to the abdominal plates. Source: https://t.co/pwT5dACYcq

Jan 16, 2023 · 53 followers View post →

みつぞえさん

@honeyme102 · X

Mar 2, 2022 · 3 shares · 75 followers View post →

就活

@enkatu · X

Mar 2, 2022 · 3 shares · 414 followers View post →

善哉(ぜんざい)しるこ@山姥

@zenzaisiruco · X

Mar 2, 2022 · 3 shares · 645 followers View post →

TJ養蜂記

@TJ_beekeeper · X

Mar 2, 2022 · 12 likes · 3 shares · 933 followers View post →

Amegilla_sp

@Amegilla_sp · X

Y bueno, gracias por llegar al final del hilo

May 20, 2021 · 134 followers View post →

NumericBees

@NumericBees · X

@The_Apiarist @britishbee As this is the 2nd article today wher i read "varroa feeds on hemolymph", I suggest the reading of this research work : https://t.co/u4icGzJYIL.

Feb 5, 2021 · 36 followers View post →

RedFrog

@_RedFrog · X

@jeanlesabeilles @ApiculteursMidi @albanforlot https://t.co/wFbTvW9JEb https://t.co/ayKVfCcAfu

Jan 22, 2019 · 3,811 followers View post →

Zwartebij Bescherming

@Imkerdienst · X

Jan 17, 2019 · 826 followers View post →

1701466951sajls 11 1-6 | PDF

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https://doi.org/10.1073/ Apidologie., 52: 647–657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592- pnas.1818371116 021-00852-y Rosenkranz P., Aumeier P., Ziegelmann B ...

Dec 13, 2025 View →

Preface to a Special Issue in Memory Of | PDF | Microscope | Alfalfa

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States of America, 116(5), 1792–1801. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Ueckermann, E.A., Ochoa, R., Bauchan, G.R. & Neser, S. (2019) An amazing sub ...

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Varroa Nile Red [IMAGE] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

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10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Keywords. /Life sciences/Organismal biology/Animals/Invertebrates/Arthropods/Insects/Hymenoptera/Bees; /Physical sciences/Materials ...

Dec 13, 2025 View →

Varroa-on-Bee [IMAGE] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

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Dec 13, 2025 View →

Varroa-Bee CrossSection [IMAGE] | EurekAlert! Science News ...

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10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Keywords. /Life sciences/Organismal biology/Animals/Invertebrates/Arthropods/Insects/Hymenoptera/Bees; /Physical sciences/Materials ...

Dec 13, 2025 View →

图文详情

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org/10.1073/pnas.1818371116. △上图：瓦螨是一种对蜜蜂具有毁灭性影响的寄生虫，是导致蜂群衰竭综合征（CCD）的重要因素之一。上图是一只雌性瓦螨（Varroa destructor ...

Dec 13, 2025 View →

Entomologia A Large Scale Study of Varroa Destructor Treatment ...

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https://doi. doi.org/10.3390/insects12010027 org/10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Horwitz, R. I., Viscoli, C. M., Donaldson, R. M., Murray, C. Ricci-Cabello, I ...

Dec 13, 2025 View →

P3 10 PDF | PDF | Chemistry | Physical Sciences

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10.1073/pnas.1818371116 [3] S. Bernardi, V.Ezio “Viral epidemiology of the adult Apis mellifera infested by the Varroa destructor mite.” Heliyon 2,5 e00101 ...

Dec 13, 2025 View →

Varroa mites increase disease transmission among honey bees

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Mar 2, 2025 View →

Protecting Bee Hives from Extreme Temperature Swings

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https://www.pnas. org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1818371116 Lastly, here is an idea of what temperatures and winter conditions bees can survive.

Dec 29, 2024 View →

What happened to 3 of 4 disappearing bee hives?

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pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116. pnas.org. Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat. 9 mos. Carol Sherman Bob Thomas. Reebok ...

Dec 13, 2024 View →

Unlearn & Rethink--Sunflowers Every Thursday we are going to take ...

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https://www.pnas. org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1818371116. pnas.org. Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat. 1 yr · Roman Makuch. The Oregon ...

Oct 17, 2024 View →

The Diet of Varroa and Tropilaelaps Ectoparasitic mites of the ...

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Feb 10, 2024 View →

Finding varroa between the lower chitinous segments of the ...

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Apr 19, 2023 View →

I heard a fascinating interview with entomologist Samuel Ramsey ...

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Our work provides a path forward for the development of novel treatment strategies for Varroa." https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1818371116.

Feb 24, 2023 View →

SUNFLOWER LINKED TO REDUCE VARROA INFESTATION IN ...

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Jan 11, 2023 View →

Good morning! I found this article today and thought you all might be ...

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Nov 23, 2020 View →

I'm still thinking about Dr Sammy Ramsey's talk on the Varroa mite ...

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Our work provides a path forward for the development of novel treatment strategies for Varroa." https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1818371116.

Jul 8, 2019 View →

March 2019 PDF | PDF | Beekeeper | Beekeeping

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... 1818371116?utm_ ily has been a force in the state's beekeeping ... 13038; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1804934115 ed States. Scientific Reports ...

Mar 3, 2019 View →

What does the mite varroa destructor primarily feed on?

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Feb 27, 2019 View →

Really interesting article backed up with some fantastic electron ...

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Feb 23, 2019 View →

Varroa mite diet primarily honey bee fat body tissue

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Feb 21, 2019 View →

More info related to the article Mitchel Smith, president of the ...

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" https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas. 1818371116 · No photo description available. Kirri Hugs and 2 others. 3 reactions ·. 4 comments. ·. 2 ...

Jan 30, 2019 View →

Microscopy research helps unravel the workings of a major honey ...

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019; 116 (5): 1792 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Cite This Page: MLA; APA; Chicago. US ...

Jan 30, 2019 View →

This honeybee parasite may be less vampire and more werewolf ...

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Published online January 15, 2019. doi:10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Susan Milius. About Susan ...

Jan 18, 2019 View →

Honey bee parasites, varroa mites, feed on fatty organs, not blood ...

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Cite This Page: MLA; APA; Chicago. University of Maryland ...

Jan 15, 2019 View →

Honey bee parasites feed on fatty organs, not blood | EurekAlert!

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10.1073/pnas.1818371116. Keywords. /Life sciences/Organismal biology/Animals/Invertebrates/Arthropods/Insects/Hymenoptera/Bees; /Physical ...

Jan 14, 2019 View →

feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph.

Mentions per month

Where it's discussed

What people are saying

Abstract in brief

Top posts

All mentions

New Insights into Varroa Mite Feeding on Honey Bees' Fat Body Tissue

Honeybee Age Plasticity and Effects of Varroa Mite Infestation