Tropilaelaps Book - Detection, Prevention and Control

We all know the story of Varroa destructor: it arrived, it devastated, and it changed beekeeping forever. Half a century later, another mite is following the same path — with the potential to be equally or even more destructive. Tropilaelaps mercedesae is an ectoparasite that in Asia jumped from giant honey bees (Apis dorsata and Apis laboriosa) to our Apis mellifera, causing a disease known as tropilaelapsosis. The latest reports confirm it has already reached the eastern part of the European continent: the Balkans and the Mediterranean present environmental conditions favourable to its proliferation, and the growing trade in queens, bee packages and swarms is accelerating its spread. On top of that, climate change has led many colonies in temperate regions to maintain brood year-round, which directly benefits Tropilaelaps reproduction.

This book exists so we don't repeat with Tropilaelaps the mistakes we made with Varroa. It is the European reference work on this mite: 95 full-colour pages, hardcover, published in 2026, with a build quality designed to withstand being consulted in the honey house or the truck without falling apart. It also features interactive content with access to videos and audiovisual resources, so you can cross-reference what you see in a photograph or diagram with real in-hive management.

The authors are not armchair researchers: they are scientists and beekeepers who have worked directly with Tropilaelaps in bee colonies in Georgia, Thailand and China. Maggie Gill brings over 20 years of experience in pollinator research, served as a regional bee inspector in Wales, and is currently a senior scientist at Defra (UK Government), specialising in pollinator monitoring. Dr Aleksandar Uzunov has spent 30 years studying the honey bee, heads the Bee Laboratory at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, and advises the Bee Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Dr Marin Kovačić, a third-generation beekeeper, runs one of Europe's largest queen-rearing operations from Croatia, with research focused on Varroa resistance and biotechnical control methods. Dr Irakli Janashia, a veterinarian and beekeeper in Georgia, has dedicated his research to Tropilaelaps mercedesae, Varroa destructor and honey bee gut microbiota.

The book's structure is practical and field-oriented. It takes you through the essentials: what Tropilaelaps is and why it matters, how to distinguish it from Varroa, how it affects brood and the colony, and above all how to detect it using inspection and sampling methods any beekeeper can apply during routine checks. The full-colour images are critical for telling the signs of both mites apart, and the goal is clear: diagnosis based on evidence, not guesswork.