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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Varroa destructor
When Varroa Mites Hitch a Ride
Those blood-sucking varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are considered the No. 1 enemy of beekeepers. In powerful numbers and weakened colonies, they can overwhelm and collapse a hive. We remember seeing a varroa mite attached to a foraging honey bee one warm summer day in our pollinator garden. The...
A varroa mite attached to a honey bee forager. It's the reddish brown spot near the wing. The bee is foraging on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bumble bee, Bombus californicus, with a hitchhiking varroa mite. (Photo by Allan Jones, Davis)
Varroa mite on a carpenter bee. (Photo by Allan Jones, Davis)
Smell Like a Bee
Newly published research by a Michigan State University-led team indicates that one of the reasons why the varroa mite is so destructive is because it infiltrates hives by smelling like a bee. The parasitic mite, or Varroa destructor, is a "blood sucker" that feeds on bees....
Questions about the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), enemies of honey bees, are often asked at the Linnaean Games. This varroa is on a drone pupa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)Mite on drone pupa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A varroa mite is visible on this forager. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pain in the Neck
To a beekeeper, it's a four-letter word. Mite. Specifically, the varroa mite, also known as Varroa destructor. It's a small (think flea-sized) crab-shaped parasite that feeds on bees, either in the brood (immature bees) or on adult bees. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC...
Varroa Mite
Mite on Pupa
