Tracheal Mites

[heaflaw]

Velbert,

Is this the same type of grooming that would get rid of varroa?

[Tara]

The bees that are more resistant to TM are the ones the groom their selves have you watch bees how they will take their legs and go across there self. One that grooms it self often will knock them off

when a young bee hatches the thorax is soft for the first 5 days (this is when the mite enters the bees) after 5 days the thorax it becomes hard and the mite cant get into the thorax of the bee to do its damage.

Velbert, are you talking about trachea mites? The ones that live inside the trachea? I'm not asking about varroa, the ones that attach outside on the body like a tick.

[sqkcrk]

I've seen a lot of K wing in my hives lately, but only a single varroa on one drone for all my looking so far.

Also, I just bought a load of menthol crystals to do the 30-day thing. Would putting them in the hive be a waste of my money, or should I just make my homemade Tiger Balm from the menthol?

Thanks,

~Tara

K Wing is from a virus.

Menthol is a waste of time and money, but you've already bought it, so what else are you going to do w/ it. It can't hurt, as far as I know.

[Velbert]

It is in part some of the same grooming that knocks off the V-Mite then some bees like the russian will bite the v-mite to kill it but some time the v-mite might get between the segments of the bees on their under side they may need help getting off by the other bees, also this grooming will help keep the T-Mite knock off and after the bees is 5 days old the thorax becomes hard and the T-mite cant boar the hole into them

Yes Menthol will kill the T-mites and the K wing is the result of the T-mite boring a hole into the thorax and damaging the wings muscle you are right on that Tara. Now the shrunken and shriveled wings are the result of a virus cause from the present of the mites V-mite

[Tara]

Yeah, I hadn't seen any shrunken or shriveled wings, so I didn't think it was the varroa. Thanks a bunch Velbert!

[sqkcrk]

after the bees is 5 days old the thorax becomes hard and the T-mite cant boar the hole into them

Yes Menthol will kill the T-mites and the K wing is the result of the T-mite boring a hole into the thorax and damaging the wings muscle you are right on that Tara.

You have some interesting Theories there Velbert. Where did you get them from?

Tracheal mites don't bore holes into any exoskeleton part of the bee. They enter the prothoracic tracheal of the bee and suck the hemolymph of the bee from inside the trachea of the bee. After five days after the bee emerges the thorax may become hard, but it is the stiffening of the hairs on the bees body that make it hard for the tracheal mite to get into the trachea.

Deformed wing virus is associated w/ Varroa jacobsonii, not Acarapis woodii, the Tracheal mite.

[Velbert]

You have some interesting Theories there Velbert. Where did you get them from? it's not my theory it is what i have read over the years it may have be a theory then

Tracheal mites don't bore holes into any exoskeleton part of the bee. They enter the prothoracic tracheal of the bee and suck the hemolymph of the bee from inside the trachea of the bee. After five days after the bee emerges the thorax may become hard, but it is the stiffening of the hairs on the bees body that make it hard for the tracheal mite to get into the trachea. never read that finding

Deformed wing virus is associated w/ Varroa jacobsonii, not Acarapis woodii, the Tracheal mite.

I know that one. but was talking about the K wing it is when the wing stick out to one side or the other and the bee can not pull it in because when the Tracheal Mite entered it damaged the muscle, years back it was referred to as k wing

[Velbert]

[SIZE=3]Talkiseases of the honey bee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/SIZE]
Jump to K-wing‎: Actually "K" wing is a symptom of Tracheal mites, not Varroa mites and not DWV. A crumpled deformed wing is the sign of deformed ...
Retarded - K-wing - Wax moths - Recent Vampire Mite Scare

[Michael Bush]

It's a little of both. They don't bore through the side exactly. The tracheal mites enter at the first thoracic spiracle (which is the largest) and require a young bee because the mites don't quite fit. The soft chitin of a young bee can be chewed out the little bit that is required, while the chitin of an older bee is inflexible and tough. Apparently they can smell the difference in age and can use that ability to find the right host where grease patties seem to interfere with this ability.

[sqkcrk]

Thanks Velbert and Michael, I learned something here that I thought I already knew, but was wrong about. Thank you.