Varroa Mite

They say if you keep bees that you also raise varroa mite, sometimes called the varroa destroyer.

What Is It?

"Varroa mites are external parasites that attack both honey bees and brood. They suck the blood from both the adults and developing brood, especially drone brood. This weakens and shortens the bee’s life. Emerging brood may be deformed with missing legs or wings. Untreated infestations of varroa mites will increase and may kill colonies. If the colonies are not examined for mites, losses may be mistaken for winter mortality or queenlessness. " ~ Ric Bessin, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

Varroa Mite *photo from University of Kentucky

Aren't they ugly?!  Yes, they are!  And what a pest.  The female mite will go into larva and lay eggs.  They then feed on the poor new bee.  And they multiply even before the bee enters the world!

Gross.

So what do beekeepers do?  Some will keep their drone population down.  You can do this by destroying drone cells.

We have chosen to use a natural method.  There are some types of acid found in favorite plants of bees: formic acid.  How do we use it?

In July, you apply "Mite Away" strips.  By laying the strips into the hive, it will kill adult and can kill some under cappings.  It is safe even during the honey flow.

So that's where we are.  We applied them on July 6 and are awaiting the treatment end date.  This can cause a bee loss.  So we have invited the chickens into the apiary fence to "clean up" debris.

Undertaker Bees

How do we clean up the dead bees?  Don't forget that there are worker bees tasked with "undertaker" duty.  So they can either shove them out of the hive or fly the dead bodies away.  Here's what an undertaker does:

Edit: link to Univ of Kentucky no longer works. ENTFACT-608: Varroa Mites Infesting Honey Bee Colonies by Ric Bessin, Extension Entomologist. University of Kentucky College of Agriculture