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Anyone notice the small bugs from 0:25 to 0:32? I wonder if those were predators or some type of helpers - comb cleaning if you will.

by dopeboy 11y ago

beardicus 11y ago
Alas, those are Varroa mites. Not helpers, but blood-sucking (or the bee equivalent to blood: hemolymph) aliens that are causing quite a problem for beekeepers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varroa_destructor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varroa_destructor
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Is there any defense against them?
  - Jedd 11y ago
    I believe there are some sprays, not sure how effective they are, but the bigger concern is that bees are pretty sensitive (as we've all recently learned). Obviously such treatments are only useful for commercial beekeepers - not the wild / feral colonies. The problem there is that it means commercial beekeepers have to keep using the same chemicals forever (or until the mites develop a resistance), as they'll continue to get re-infestations coming into their area.
  - beardicus 11y ago
    There are some efforts to breed better hygienic behavior into bees, so they clean out parasitized brood or clean themselves of the mites. There are a few chemical treatments, including formic acid. And there are a few management techniques you can employ to disrupt their life cycle. So, it is manageable, though even with close attention and management they are clearly weakening hives and contributing to the mess of problems beekeepers are having.
Jedd 11y ago
As beardicus notes, these are Varroa mites. There's some suggestion that the smaller (or 'natural') cell sizing may reduce their impact, as there's less room for them as the bee matures. Cell sizing is, typically, in commercial hives, dictated by the foundation sheets of wax put into frames, and sized ever so slightly larger than what's found in wild or feral hives, on the principle that you get more honey from bees that are slightly larger. I would note that we're talking a few millimetres difference here. On the other hand, massive reductions to the volumes of wild colonies suggest natural - what the bees would make themselves - sized cells aren't a simple answer to this pest. I'm in Australia, and hope to catch a few swarms this year - in this part of the world the first swarms are consistently seen in the first two weeks of September. We don't have Varroa mites here, yet, but it won't be long. They're in our neighbours to the north (Indonesia & Papua New Guina) and east (New Zealand). The life cycle of bees unfortunately lends itself to wide and rapid propagation of pests and diseases.

Anyone notice the small bugs from 0:25 to 0:32? I wonder if those were predators or some type of helpers - comb cleaning if you will.

by dopeboy 11y ago

Anyone notice the small bugs from 0:25 to 0:32? I wonder if those were predators or some type of helpers - comb cleaning if you will.

beardicus 11y ago

Alas, those are Varroa mites. Not helpers, but blood-sucking (or the bee equivalent to blood: hemolymph) aliens that are causing quite a problem for beekeepers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varroa_destructor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varroa_destructor

toomuchtodo 11y ago
Is there any defense against them?
- Jedd 11y ago
  I believe there are some sprays, not sure how effective they are, but the bigger concern is that bees are pretty sensitive (as we've all recently learned). Obviously such treatments are only useful for commercial beekeepers - not the wild / feral colonies. The problem there is that it means commercial beekeepers have to keep using the same chemicals forever (or until the mites develop a resistance), as they'll continue to get re-infestations coming into their area.
- beardicus 11y ago
  There are some efforts to breed better hygienic behavior into bees, so they clean out parasitized brood or clean themselves of the mites. There are a few chemical treatments, including formic acid. And there are a few management techniques you can employ to disrupt their life cycle. So, it is manageable, though even with close attention and management they are clearly weakening hives and contributing to the mess of problems beekeepers are having.

Jedd 11y ago

As beardicus notes, these are Varroa mites. There's some suggestion that the smaller (or 'natural') cell sizing may reduce their impact, as there's less room for them as the bee matures. Cell sizing is, typically, in commercial hives, dictated by the foundation sheets of wax put into frames, and sized ever so slightly larger than what's found in wild or feral hives, on the principle that you get more honey from bees that are slightly larger. I would note that we're talking a few millimetres difference here. On the other hand, massive reductions to the volumes of wild colonies suggest natural - what the bees would make themselves - sized cells aren't a simple answer to this pest. I'm in Australia, and hope to catch a few swarms this year - in this part of the world the first swarms are consistently seen in the first two weeks of September. We don't have Varroa mites here, yet, but it won't be long. They're in our neighbours to the north (Indonesia & Papua New Guina) and east (New Zealand). The life cycle of bees unfortunately lends itself to wide and rapid propagation of pests and diseases.