How to Quantify Varroa destructor in Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Colonies

Varroa destructor (Figure 1) is considered the most devastating pest of western honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) globally. Its natural host is A. cerana, the Asian honey bee. Apis mellifera (hereafter "honey bee") became an additional host and is very susceptible to damage caused by the mite. These mites are found wherever the honey bee occurs (Iwasaki et al. 2015). Varroa effectively vectors multiple viruses (Rosenkranz et al. 2010), which can severely weaken or cause the collapse of honey bee colonies if left untreated (Thompson et al. 2014; Frey and Rosenkranz 2014).