Introduction
At last, seasonable weather with a coating of snow on the top of Ben Wyvis clearly visible across the Moray Firth from a few hundred yards up the road from our house. And now it is snowing down here too. The colony temperature sensors are all recording brood nest temperatures below 20.3°C, apart from two that need batteries changed in spring and are not recording at all.
Review
Northern Bee Books asked if I would like to review Tropilaelaps At the Gate of your Apiary. Of course! I’ve been excited about this book since I first heard it was coming out.
I mentioned tropilaelaps and the book release at a recent local association meeting and got the impression that some people had never heard of it. I can understand that it doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue easily, which might put people off saying the word, but it has been on our list of notifiable pests in the UK since I started beekeeping, and that was a long time ago. Let’s spread the word because we have more chance of keeping our bees healthier if the beekeepers around us are up-to-date, informed and taking responsibility.
I’ve been following scientist Dr. Maggie Gill and her work since she wrote in one of the journals about going out to Thailand to investigate detection methods. At the time, the National Bee Unit (NBU) in the UK was advocating using the ‘bump method’ to detect tropilaelaps but they wanted to find out how well it actually worked in the field. The method involves bumping brood frames down on a white tray so that the tropilaelaps can be spotted when they fall out of open cells. What they discovered was that brood was damaged significantly, and another more efficient method of detection had to be found.
The UK Government is short of funds for scientific research so at least one scientist paid their own way out to Thailand to work on this problem on our behalf. I imagine research funds will be scare in the U.S too since President Trump cut many grants and axed the Beltsville lab where a lot of valuable work on honey bees has been carried out.
I discovered recently that PHIRA science has been set up privately to research key topics such as tropilaelaps, and it relies heavily on donations as this is not part of government research. I made a donation yesterday. https://www.phira-science.org/donate
You can find all the information that you need for now in the book, but for people who learn and retain information better through listening, Maggie’s excellent presentation from the 2025 National Honey Show lectures is now available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxtHOhtlXQI&t=2362s I really like the way Maggie tackled the questions and ended her answer to one with, “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”.
Title: Tropilaelaps At the Gate of your Apiary
Authors: Maggie Gill, Aleksander Uzonov, Irakli Janashia and Marin Kovačić
Published: 2025 by BEE & HONEY Sp. z o. o.
Hardback, 18 cm x 24 cm, 89 pages
Cost: £19:99
Available: Northern Bee Books
Distributers: UK: Abelo Ltd, USA: Betterbee, Australia: Lyson Beekeeping Supplies, New Zealand: Lyson Beekeeping Supplies
Tropilaelaps At the Gate of your Apiary by Maggie Gill, Aleksander Uzonov, Irakli Janashia and Marin Kovačić is the definitive book on Tropilaelaps mercedesae (tropilaelaps), and currently the only one of its kind available. It is well written and presents essential science-based information in lucid language for beekeepers that will be easily understood which is important because tropilaelaps is an imminent threat to worldwide beekeeping. Every beekeeper wanting to protect their bees and the future will need to read this book and learn how to cope when tropilaelaps breaches our own apiary gates. The authors are scientists three of whom are experienced beekeepers.
There are seven short, concise and detailed sections which include the introduction, taxonomy and distribution, biology, pathology, detection and diagnosis, control, and the literature sources and references. Diagrams, tables and high-quality photography enhance the text, and there are several direct links to videos that can be accessed via a mobile phone with camera.
The superb photography is particularly useful in helping to identify tropilaelaps and compare it with other similar looking pests. The biology of tropilaelaps is fascinating and something that must be understood in order to deal most effectively with this new pest. It has fewer features in common with Varroa destructor (varroa) than one might imagine, therefore effective treatments will not be exactly the same. We discover why tropilaelaps may be more damaging to beekeeping than varroa already is, and that we need to anticipate giving many more treatments because tropilaelaps increase rapidly after treatments reaching high levels again relatively quickly. Because tropilaelaps are smaller and faster moving, detection is not as easy as spotting varroa in a colony. The authors have tested various methods of diagnosing tropilaelaps and the most effective one currently involves the rapid uncapping of brood cells using depilatory wax strips. They present the pros and cons of all the detection methods and treatments. A case study from Thailand demonstrates the problems associated with using homemade medications, and the reader cannot help but feel grateful for the ongoing scientific work that will inform our management when we are eventually faced with tropilaelaps.
The history of the spread of tropilaelaps is sobering, and the link to geography, climate, commerce and beekeeping practices helps the reader realise that the threat is real, and, relatively speaking, nearby.
This publication brings together all the recent remarkable collaborative scientific work and findings from across the world in one place providing us with the latest knowledge and intelligence hot off the press. It is positive and hopeful in offering solutions and new ways of working with both varroa and tropilaelaps. Tropilaelaps At the Gate of your Apiary is an excellent book and essential reading for all beekeepers and those involved in honey bee health.
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I often wonder if bees that have resistant traits to varroa will have it easier with Tropi mite (i mean mostly hygienic behaviours connected to VSH and recapping). For sure in New Guinea there is a population resistant to both mites (or maybe rather tolerant) – but they have no DWV there. I wonder if we’d have bees that can keep varroa mite in the low infestation level and tolerant to DWV and other viruses, then would the Tropi mite be a major killing factor for decades (like varroa), or that would be just a reasonably short time for them to adapt.
Does the book answer those questions?
Ps. I think I’ll go bancrupt this year on books 😉 will have to add this one to the list 🙂
Hello, Bartek. Thank you for commenting and asking that question. With hindsight, I could have mentioned this in my review. The answer is that these questions are not addressed in detail and they don’t focus on adaption. They are cautious and limited in their comments on resistance and suggest that evidence shows that the resistance mechanism towards varroa may also be effective against tropilaelaps, but they point out that we haven’t yet developed westerm honey bees that are fully resistant to varroa. They suggest that there is even potential for the spread of tropilaelaps to undo the progress made so far with breeding varroa resistant bees.
Professor Stephen Martin seemed more positive when I asked him what he thinks will happen when tropilaelaps arrives.