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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.
by 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 agoIs there any defense against them?
- Jedd 11y agoI 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 agoThere 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.