# difference between male and female mite



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

When I inspect the bottom boards, I have a hard time seeing the difference in the male and female mite.

anyone have any pictures? suggestions?


----------



## Les Evans (Aug 25, 2005)

Hi Chef,
Here is a link to some good info on Honey Bee Parasites, Pests, Predators & Diseases. It is very helpful,atleast it was for me. Thanks Michael.
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/pppdIndex.html

Here is a link from the same site above that has a short description of the adult female Varroa mite.
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/pest&disease/sl11.html

Here is another good site as well...
http://www.kohala.net/bees/#anchor400987

Hope this helps
Les


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

All of the dark purplish brown ones are mature females. The immature ones are between white and transparent. The males are yellow and smaller than the females. The males don't live outside the capped cells. Frankly I think, other than being aware of their existence, identifying the males is irrelevant to managing the mites.


----------



## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

Chef Isaac . . .

>any pictures . . .
See page 133 of MITES OF THE HONEY BEE by Webster & Delaplane for a good "comparison" photo of male and female mites.

>suggestions? 
"Adult males are seldom seen" (same reference, p132). I count a lot of mites, and "think" I see males as a 1 or 2% of fallen mites on sticky-board. The mites I call males, are always smaller, round and (light) tan in color. Almost always their backs are "sunk" in, as shown in photo described above.

Unless your eye-sight is outstanding, you can't see a differnce w/ unaided eyes.

>other than being aware of their existence, identifying the males is irrelevant to managing the mites.
Once again, I think MrBEE has offered some good advice.

[ October 31, 2005, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Dave W ]


----------



## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

A good book that should be on every beekeepers book shelve is  Honey Bee Pests, Predators & Diseases third edition, by Roger A. Morse and Kim Folttum.


----------



## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

The Morse/Flottum book is a fine reference text,
but it covers everything one might encounter
on the entire planet, and may be overkill
(and over-expensive) for most hobby beekeepers.

A much cheaper, smaller, and better-illustrated
book for this purpose is the Penn State book
"Honey Bee Parasites, Pests, Predators, and
Diseases" from MAAREC. It has very nice color
photos to illustrate each problem, and is
spiral bound for easy reference in the bee yard.
It does not cover the more obscure stuff not
found in the western hemisphere.

And I also do not bother to worry about which
sex a mite is. I do pay attention to immature
(white) versus mature (dark), but that's it.


There is also a Canadian book, very similar,
taking the same basic approach, but I forget
who publishes it or what it is called. It is
yet another "pocket-sized" book with lots of
photos.


----------



## Antero (Jan 9, 2005)

Jim the Canadian book :Honey Bee Disease And Pests 2nd Edition Revised by C. Scott Dupree Terry


----------



## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

Jim:
There is a lot of good reference books out there. But the obscure stuff not found in the western hemisphere are you talking about things like Varroa mites?


----------



## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

Not to worry, varroa is found in the western
hemisphere, is not obscure, and is covered in
every book on the subject printed since the
mid 1980s.

"obscure stuff not found in the western hemisphere"
would include things like Pollenia sp., a fly that
lays eggs that can feed on bee larvae, found in
the middle east. Interesting trivia, but not
something I need to worry about just yet.


----------



## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

Jim:

My point exactly, in 1980 Varroa would have been considered obscure as well. With the way life forms wether plant or animal can travel from one continent to another, and with surprising speed, we need to be vigilant. The best way is to keep our eyes open. I think the point you were trying to make is there are other reference books available at better cost, and I agree with you, but whats obscure today is eating us up next year.


----------



## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

> whats obscure today is eating us up next year

Quite right, but you can buy a new MARREC book
every year for quite a few years before you
equal the price of the depressingly thick
A I Root book "Pests, Predators, and Diseases".

Beekeepers tend to not buy expensive books, so
a cheaper alternative is better than a complete
reference. Of course, the MAAREC website also
has a pretty good set of photos of various
pests, predators and diseases for free, but
the images are not very large and are not
very high-resolution.


----------



## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

>>"obscure stuff not found in the western hemisphere" would include things like Pollenia sp.,

Pollinia may be obscure but it's a common problem here in Maine! I pondered what I was seeing at my hive entrances a while (bees hobbled with threads on their legs, some nearly unable to walk) before I remember reading something about "milkweed pollinia" in and old copy of ABC-XYZ. Sure enough, milkweed was blooming and the bees were working it hard. I got some good pictures:

http://www.sweettimeapiary.com/pics/pollinia2.1.jpg

Other pollinia pics in:

http://www.sweettimeapiary.com/pics/

pollinia6.jpg is interesting because you can see the pollen balls, but the bee isn't on milkweed. Obviously, it was previously.

George-


----------



## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

"Pollenia sp." is a parasitic fly, not found in
Maine, or anywhere else in the western hemisphere.

"Pollinia" are simply pollen-masses.

Different spellings.

Nice photos, though!


----------



## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

Heh! I thought it odd that "pollinia" would be considered with "diseases and pests", even exotic ones. Shoulda known it, posting at 5am before my brain is caffeinated.

George-


----------

