Open AccessA DISCRETE AGE STRUCTURED SI MODEL OF TRACHEAL MITE ( Acarapis woodi (RENNIE)) INFESTATION OF HONEY BEES ( Apis mellifera L.) AT THE COLONY LEVEL
Author(s) -
Mangum W.A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
natural resource modeling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.28
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1939-7445
pISSN - 0890-8575
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-7445.1992.tb00285.x
Subject(s) - infestation , mite , brood , honey bee , honey bees , swarming (honey bee) , biology , beekeeping , apiary , population , zoology , ecology , veterinary medicine , botany , demography , medicine , sociology
This paper presents a discrete age structured SI model of tracheal mite ( Acarapis woodi (Rennie)) infestation of honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.) at the colony level. The model describes the elevated honey bee attrition during winter and predicts that winter brood rearing should promote colony survival by decreasing the colony's infestation and increasing the colony's population. The model also predicts that swarming and the artificial removal of part of the colony's forager honey bees should reduce the colony's infestation level.