Posts 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...

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)

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)

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)

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...

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)

Mite on drone pupa. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A varroa mite is visible on this forager. (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)...

Varroa Mite

VARROA MITE on a worker bee (see crab-shaped parasite near her head). These undertaker bees were trying to remove a drone larva from the hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Mite on Pupa

VARROA mite is quite visible on this honey bee pupa. It's a blood-sucking parasite. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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