Varroa Question

[TwT]

I was wondering if a hive dies from Varroa mites and the hive has not being robbed, and you close the hive up, how long will the mites in the hive live with it cold or with out any host to feed on? i haven't lose a hive just was thinking about how long they will live in that case?

[ February 20, 2006, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: TwT ]

[sqkcrk]

[ February 28, 2006, 12:30 PM: Message edited by: sqkcrk ]

[George Fergusson]

I've heard everything up to a week under the right circumstances but I suspect it's closer to 2-3 days under normal circumstances, much less in cold weather. I'm not aware of any studies of mite mortality in deadouts. I sure hope they've got better things to study.

[Axtmann]

How long live a Varroa?

During summer the mite has up to 6 breeding cycles. Between each cycle she is only a few hours or days on an adult bee. That mean the Varroa can live approx up to 3 month in summer, but most of the mites die after approx 2 month.

During winter mites live probable longer. Mites have been found in Siberian colonies after 6 months without brood.
Outside the beehive, without bees or brood, mites live up to 3 days. This is depends on the temperatures. With a temperature around 16ºC/60ºF mites have limited activity and live the longest.

Tests made from Dr. Wolfgang Ritter
Landesanstalt für Bienenkunde, Universität Hohenheim

[George Fergusson]

Thanks Axtman, that information agrees with what I have read. According to one source (I forget where I read it) mite's phoretic period varies from 3 to 13 days. Feeding on adult bees is a necessary part of their breeding cycle.