# V-Mites, Queens, and Yellow Jackets



## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Could this hive with high mite counts be removing larvae?

I know yellowjackets scavenge for such things.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

I didn't see any larvae, but that's a possiblity. They may be scavenging them as soon as they are dropped outside. Waiting around for the next free meal to be dropped in their lap.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

If it was that, Thats a good thing. Shows good behavior in your bees.


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## russbee (Mar 6, 2007)

Most likely the yellowjackets are looking for more brood or weakened bee's being removed from the colony. I have one hive myself with a large mite count and all the deformed bee's some with mites were removed from the hive. Yellowjackets have been making a meal out of the weakened bee's. However as nice as it is to see the bee's removing those bee's the hive needed treatment


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

My yellowjackets (ooohh...I hate calling them "mine"), like to poke around under the hive between the cinder blocks. I'm hoping that's not where the nest is. I think they're just sniffing the odor of brood coming out of the screened bottom board.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

Here is my GUESS . . .

The "stronger" hive may be robbing other weakers hives (yours and/or others) and in doing so, they are bring back "extra" mites. 

If the hive is robbing, could the smell of "fresh honey" be attacting the yellowjackets?


Remember, I am guessing


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

I appreciate everyones responses. Some interesting things to think about. 

I would like to repeat this question and see if there are any opinions. 

".... Only this "one" colony among the others is having such a problem with mites. Could it be related to the queen and her offspring's' lack of hygienic behavior? Do I need to replace her?"

FYI - All colonies are headed by queens of differing sources and lines.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

OK....here's an opinion. It MAY be a genetic issue. It's likely to be more than just that. Perhaps that hive generates more drone brood which mites seem to like. Thus, more mites. Perhaps your other hives had an unnoticed break in the brood cycle and this one didn't. Perhaps it's a little of everything. If you don't have any other problems with your queen...she lays in a good pattern....hive is not hot......etc., you don't NEED to replace her. It might not hurt if you do replace her. This time of the year or a little later may not be a bad time to do so. Nonetheless, you still have to deal with the mites, queen problem or not. 

OK...just an opinion. But, if it were my hive, I might re-queen anyway just in case. It may not help but it's likely not to hurt.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

are all the hives of the same age?

after answering this question, I would likely compare (as ravenseye suggested) the quantity of drone cells in the brood area.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

tecumseh said:


> are all the hives of the same age?
> 
> after answering this question, I would likely compare (as ravenseye suggested) the quantity of drone cells in the brood area.


In this yard, 1 hive was overwintered and the others are splits off of that hive or captured swarms from other areas. The splits and swarms are all basically the same age, within a few weeks of each other. The parent colony of course has the highest population, all the others are comparable. The colony with the mite problem is one of the captured swarms from earlier in the year. 

I haven't seen much variation in drone population among the colonies, but have observed that across the board all seem to be noticeably lower in drones than in other years.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Just a quick update. I've spent more time watching the activity around this colony, and sure enough, the bees are dragging out drone larvae and dropping them in the grass. This is apparently what the YJ's have been scavenging on. I'll presume it's a good sign to see them performing hygenic activities, even though the mite counts are high. 

I'm treating the colony to give them a bit of assistance and we'll see what happens.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.


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