Dr. Samuel Ramsey - Tracking The Tropilaelaps & More (S3, E8)

Dr. Sam Ramsey joins us again to share what he has found from his most recent work on Tropilaelaps mites in Thailand. He has been looking at the history of this mite’s movement around the world, the biology and its life cycle.  Just as important he is exploring the differences and the similarities of the Tropilaelaps to the Varroa mite. His work points out why this pest is so very difficult to control with chemicals, why it is so genetically diverse, what helps it adapt quickly to new control tactics and why populations build so fast in the colonies it infests.

His work was interrupted by the spread of Covid-19 around the world and he had to return home this spring. We were able to catch up with Sammy while he is back in Maryland, exploring the possibility of making honey bee larvae produce fat bodies without the necessary proteins that varroa need to develop. Meanwhile, he is looking forward to going back to Thailand and picking up where he dropped off.

Listen today and you will understand why the Tropilaelaps is a far greater threat than the varroa ever has been. 

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We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a new quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum.

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Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"