Case Study on a Possible External Mite Infestation (A. externusor A. Dorsalisor A. vagans) at Drone Brood of Apis Mellifera Carpathica Beesin a Apiaryfrom Southern Romania

So far, external parasites of Apis mellifera (A. externus, A. dorsalis, A. vagans) bees have been identified in many countries in Europe, but the level of infestation was not considered dangerous. In Romania cases of infestation with the three mentioned species were not identified in Apis mellifera, but their presence has been reported in some neighbor countries. The purpose of this paper is to report a possible infestation with A. externus and A. dorsalis or A. vagans in Romania. The study was conducted on a total of 35 apiaries within 4 counties in Southern Romania, on samples of bees, drones and portions of honeycomb with/without brood. A single case of infestation was incidentally identified by microscopic investigation on samples of drone brood combs. Morphological aspects of the parasite investigated microscopically suspects the presence of an external mite with characteristics of Acarapis species. The results of our investigations show that infestation with Acarapis (A. externus and A. dorsalis or A.vagans) does not constitute a threat to the Apis mellifera Carpathica, but draws attention to their presence in the apiary in thesouth of the country.