09/10/2026
Tropilaelaps has now been confirmed in Türkiye, and the first thing that caught my attention was how the mites are moving.
They are moving :|
On 22 September 2026, researchers published this report: First report on Tropilaelaps mercedesae presence in Türkiye and insight into potential westward
2 invasion corridors
Here's what the report said:
Beekeepers in Artvin had noticed colonies losing strength, so the team inspected 8 apiaries near the Georgian border and found the mite in 22 of the 24 colonies they selected.
But that doesn't mean 22 out of every 24 colonies in the region are infested, because these colonies were chosen for inspection after signs of decline.
The team opened sealed brood, saw the mites moving across the comb, and then checked their identity through body measurements and DNA.
Why look under the cappings?
Tropilaelaps feeds on developing bees inside brood cells and spends relatively little time riding on adult bees, so an adult bee sample can miss an infestation that a brood inspection reveals.
That short ride still matters: researchers have found Tropilaelaps on bees leaving their hives, which shows one possible way mites can leave an infested colony.
Earlier inspections in Artvin had found no mites through spring 2026, but those negative checks can't tell us exactly when the mite arrived.
Every positive colony also had Varroa, so we can't look at their weakness and assign all of it to Tropilaelaps.
The authors discuss colony movements and queen imports as possible routes of spread, but this investigation did not establish how the mite entered Türkiye.
This report is a preprint, so its findings have not yet passed peer review; the detection is real, while the route it took and how far it has spread still need investigation.
This should cover it :)
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