# Good Varroa mites



## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Whenever I am manipulating a colony I keep an eye out for phoretic _Varroa_, and I sometimes open Drone brood to see if I can find any there. Every once in awhile I spot one on a worker's thorax.

I was looking through some Nucs, yesterday and spotted a _Varroa_ mite on the thorax of a worker. I watched for a few minutes, the bee was moving normally around the surface of the comb, I was curious because it seemed the mite was not moving, which was unusual. So I decided to capture the bee and see if I could remove the mite to check it out. I chased the bee down and captured it by the wings, the mite actually wasn't moving, when I poked it with a piece of straw it just fell off - it was already dead. Until then I hadn't realized that some of the mites I saw on the bees might be dead already.

Has anyone else ever seen this?

This was one of the best mites I've ever seen on a bee.


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## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

Interesting , I would suppose they have a life span dose anyone know what the natural lifespan of a varroa mite is?:scratch:


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I was trying to dislodge one from a worker bee's back yesterday (the fourth Varroa I've seen this year) to show a new beekeeper how they run. In the past I've gotten them to run when I try to touch them with a hive tool, but this one wouldn't budge. I didn't catch the bee but I touched the Varroa lightly at least once for sure and maybe more. The ones on the back usually seem to run but this one didn't. Now I wish I'd caught the bee to find out what was up...


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## rkr (Oct 30, 2008)

Brent Bean said:


> Interesting , I would suppose they have a life span dose anyone know what the natural lifespan of a varroa mite is?:scratch:






> link Trends in survival of Varroa cohorts showed maximum lifespans ranging from 80 to 100 days. Life expectancy of these phoretic cohorts at the beginning of the experiment ranges between 19 to 41, with a mean of 31 days.


I have studied this for use in trap outs I have to do next spring. I thought if they only live for a few weeks then I could do the trap out, wait a few weeks and then let bees rob it out without the mites hitching a ride into the new hive. Over and over I found the figure of 2 months M/L in the summer and up to 5 in the winter. I did not find how long they can live without bees to feed on.

RKR


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

Life span: Varroa live 3-4 months in summer, up to 8 in winter. And can live away from the bee or larva (in a "cage" or container) about a week.


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## rkr (Oct 30, 2008)

Thanks Dave, I was going to catch some and see how long they lasted next spring. Do you have a reference or did you run the test yourself? 

So if I left the screen cone on for about 2 weeks after the last of the bees leave the wall in a trap-out, the mites inside would be dead or darn close to it?

Thanks RKR


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

I would think that with a trapout 2 wks(if that is how long VJ survive without bees/host) would not be long enough. If there is brood then there will be nurse bees that stay in the old hive to care for the brood. So the 2 wks would have to start 3-5 wks after the queen has left the old hive so all the brood hatches and the new bees become old enough to leave. Now this thought isn't proven but just make sense to me. I may be wrong but it's just my logical thinking.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>Do you have a reference or did you run the test yourself . . .
With all due respect, I do not say it if I dont know it to be a fact.

You can find a "reference" or "data" to dispute ANYTHING said by ANYONE 
When I was new to bees, EVERYTHING I heard or read seemed to contradict what I and just read or heard. Then, as my UNDERSTANDING increases, "most" of the contradiction seems to agree 

But PLEASE question anything and everything that I or anyone says about keeping bees, we make mistakes too


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## rkr (Oct 30, 2008)

Dave W said:


> >You can find a "reference" or "data" to dispute ANYTHING said by ANYONE


Not at all disputing , I just wanted to learn more.

RKR


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>So if I left the screen cone on for about 2 weeks after the last of the bees leave the wall in a trap-out, the mites inside would be dead . . .

Sorry, I missed this one 

When there are no bees are left inside the wall AND no brood exist, any mites that might remain will soon die. However, V-mites can survive inside DEAD capped brood (worker or drone) for about a month.

>I just wanted to learn more . . .
Me too, please keep me "up todate"


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## Jim Koenig (Dec 18, 2009)

When a hive dies due to Varroa mites, were do the mites go?
Should I expect to see dead mites with the dead bees?


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## Delta Bay (Dec 4, 2009)

Dave W said:


> However, V-mites can survive inside DEAD capped brood (worker or drone) for about a month.


I've always wondered if there is a time frame mites must enter a cell or lose their ability to reproduce. Does anyone know?


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## hoodswoods (May 15, 2009)

I have usually found that stating that something is one way or another is best validated by providing supporting evidence:

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu5S6KzJLvzUBqV9XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzdTYxdTVyBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMTIEY29sbwNhYzIEdnRpZANGOTE5Xzg2/SIG=11ilerr29/EXP=1261665594/**http%3a//edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in164

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu5S6KzJLvzUBq19XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzdm1xOTluBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMTMEY29sbwNhYzIEdnRpZANGOTE5Xzg2/SIG=12ammvrok/EXP=1261665594/**http%3a//www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/varroamite.htm

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu5aZKjJLJEMAssVXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyZDd0OHR2BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0Y5MTlfODY-/SIG=128ncr61s/EXP=1261665305/**http%3a//maarec.cas.psu.edu/PDFs/Varroa_Mites_PMP1.pdf


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## rkr (Oct 30, 2008)

Jim Koenig said:


> When a hive dies due to Varroa mites, were do the mites go?
> Should I expect to see dead mites with the dead bees?


If no bees "rob" the dead hive, then yes, you would find all/ most of the mites dead .
If the foragers from another hive find the dead or dieing hive, the the mites will hitch a ride back to the other hive that is sending the robbers.

This is a major mechanism for the dispersal of mites from hive to hive. That's my understanding and experience at least.

RKR


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>When a hive dies due to Varroa mites, were do the mites go . . .
They are often "transferred" as described by rkr, OR

>Should I expect to see dead mites with the dead bees . . .
Some report finding THOUSANDS of mites on BB or tray.


>is a time frame mites must enter a cell or lose their ability to reproduce . . .
She must enter within her "life time"  and she may enter, exit, and re-enter more than once.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Should I expect to see dead mites with the dead bees? 

Yes. If the hive dies from Varroa issues, on the bottom board will be thousands of dead bees and thousands of dead mites. The mites are small and purplish brown and just a little larger than a comma on this page.


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## Jim Koenig (Dec 18, 2009)

Thanks for the feed back. 

The reason I asked is that I lost a hive this fall and there was very few bees left in the hive. I was using a SBB and there was maybe 50 mites on the cover under the screen. Based on the honey stores left in the hive, I don't think there was much robbing going on. I am starting to believe that the hive died from other reasons.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I would not consider fifty dead Varroa mites as very many in a hive that is dead or dying. You must have other issues.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>If the hive dies from Varroa issues, on the bottom board will be thousands of dead bees and thousands of dead mites . . .

Sometimes 

If you do "lots" of counts (and remove the dead mites) prior to colony death, it is possible to have very few mites remaining at the time of death. Some say only 2 or 3 thousand (live) mites are needed to kill colony, if they have been remove, say 100-150 mites per test over, say a month or two, its possible for the mites to be the cause of death, and have very few present "the instant" colony dies. 

Sometimes, mites kill the bees (or cause their death) over an extended period of time, maybe months. When this happens, its possible for a deadout to contain only a few bees upon it's actual death.

Just food for thought


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