Recapping and mite removal behaviour in Cuba: home to the world’s largest population of Varroa-resistant European honeybees

The Varroa destructor ectoparasitic mite spread globally and in conjunction with Deformed Wing Virus killed millions of honeybees ( Apis mellifera ) colonies. Forcing Northern hemisphere beekeepers into using miticides to avoid mass colony losses. However, in many Southern hemisphere countries widespread treatment did not occur since miticides where prohibitively expensive or a centralised choice was made not to treat, both allowing natural selection to act. This Varroa caused initial high losses before mite-resistant appeared in the honeybee populations. Initially, mite-resistance was only associated with African and Africanised honeybees. Although recently, several isolated mite-resistant European honeybee populations have appeared. Here we studied the mite-resistance in Cuba and found high rates (77%) of recapping of infested worker cells, high removal of mites (80%) and corresponding low mite fertility ( r =.77). These are all traits found in all naturally evolved Varroa-resistant populations. We can confirm Cuba has the world’s largest European mite-resistant population with 220,000 colonies that have been treatment-free for over two decades. Cuban honeybees are also highly productive, 40-70 kg of honey produced annually, and are mild mannered. Cuba has many queen rearing stations and is excellently positioned to export Varroa resistant European queens throughout the region and beyond.