On Tuesday 7 December 2021, the Dutch National Reference Laboratory for bee diseases will organize an online mini-symposium entitled ‘Tropilaelaps spp.: the next global threat to honey bee health?' Tropilaelaps spp. mites parasitize honey bee brood of several Apis species in Asia. Much like the varroa mite, two species are known to infect the brood of the Western honey bee (Apis Mellifera) as well. Although mostly restricted to its native range, the future perspective includes Tropilaelaps spp. becoming a globally invasive pest species. The impact on honey bee health and beekeeping is likely to be devastating. Therefore, the EU has deemed Tropilaelaps spp. a notifiable disease and aims to prevent the introduction and spread. The Dutch National Reference Laboratory for bee diseases has taken the initiative to create awareness of the looming challenges that Tropilaelaps spp. pose by organizing a mini-symposium on the subject.
The keynote speaker for this event is Dr. Samuel Ramsey (USDA), who will talk about his ongoing research on Tropilaelaps spp. mites. The second speaker is Dr. Panuwan Chantawannakul (Chiang Mai University, Thailand), who has studied Tropilaelaps spp. mites for much of her career. The last speaker is WUR's Heather Graham, who will give insight into the process of validating morphological diagnostics of Tropilaelaps spp. mites. The symposium will be concluded with a general discussion on the needs and future perspective of Tropilaelaps spp. research. The discussion will be introduced by Dr. Peter Neumann, president of the COLOSS foundation.
Registration for the symposium is free of charge and can be completed by simply sending an email, entitled ‘registration tropilaelaps symposium 2021’. A final program will be announced at a later stage. Registration closes on 1 December 2021.