Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 18, 1991                   TAG: 9103180123
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BEE MITE MAY POSE THREAT TO VA. CROPS

The villain is a mite about one-fourth the size of a grain of rice, and once it attacks a colony of bees it can destroy it within a year. The mites already have been found in several areas of Virginia.

In terms of honey production, a decreased supply of bees doesn't threaten to throw the state's budget off balance. Virginia beekeepers are minor players on the national level, and hobbyists outnumber professionals 200 to 1.

But bees pollinate $20 billion worth of crops nationally each year. For example, in the apple industry - Virginia ranks fifth of the 36 apple-producing states - the lack of a strong population of healthy bees could wreak havoc.

Livestock farmers also could feel the results. Bees pollinate soybeans, which are used to feed cattle.

The mite, the varroa jacobsoni, attaches itself to a bee and feeds on its blood, or haemolymph. It also lays eggs that feed on baby bees.

Last summer, state bee inspectors found the varroa mite in packages of bees shipped from Georgia and Texas. Colonies of mites, spread across seven counties and two cities, were destroyed.

The varroa has been known to exist in Asia since 1904 but wasn't reported in the United States until 1987. Found first in Wisconsin, the mite was traced to a bee wholesaler in Florida. It has since spread to more than 20 states.