Possible Mite Control?

[Michael Bush]

>What do we know, though, about the survival of these mites in the post varroa time frame.

Again, just an opinion from Nancy Ostiguy in the same talk with no reference to known facts, she believed they had mostly been wiped out by the acaracides. I know the bee louse (which is not really a louse or a mite but part of the fauna of the hive) is almost unheard of now and used to be fairly common. Most of those mites are microscopic so I'm sure no one noticed if they were or were not missing unless they were seriously looking. Scientists usually don't keep track of the "bystanders."

[Oldtimer]

Did they only live in hives? If not, their survival would not be threatened by varroacides. Do they still exist in the feral hives that (i'm told), have been around for years and never been treated? Some areas apparently (i'm told), have thriving feral populations that go back to pre varroa times and have never been treated, and claims are even made of whole bee populations with a different, so called, "feral" breed. If it's all true, these symbiotic mites should be alive and well, we need have no fears.

As few of them ever lived on the bees but just the hive environment, be it chinks in the wall, rubbish at the bottom, or whatever, could any suitable environment house these mites, bees or no bees?

Did they move to new hives by travelling with a swarm? Or did they just invade the new hive from the surrounding area?

Did all hives have them? or was it of no consequence to the hive wether any of these mites moved in, or not? I mean other than the bee louse, that could be a nuisance to the bees if numbers got too high.

[Kieck]

Quite a few mite species are specific in their habitat requirements. I'm no acarologist, but from the species names given to those that Michael Bush posted here, they suggest a high degree of specialization. Ant colonies are hosts to a wide range of mites, beetles, flies, and other animals. I think that bee colonies would be the same under "natural" conditions. In ant colonies, quite a few of the other species living there feed on detritus, or simply are present and tolerated in the colonies. A few feed on the ants themselves, and some are fairly general feeders. Starting with that array of species, any given ant colony may be host to a few or quite a few of the range that may be found in one area. I think finding all of the inquilines and social parasites and predators and parasites and symbionts found in a geographic area in a single colony would be unusual.

Off topic a bit -- does anyone here find bee lice in their hives even occasionally? Bee lice are flies (wingless, but still flies). I'd like a few dead specimens in good condition if I could get them, but I've yet to find any in my hives.

[wildbranch2007]

a post yesterday on bee-l about the mites and test in uk. so there are some good posts coming out of the UK.

http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/w...;c7f13bdf.1302

The main part of Emily’s presentation was concerned with an experiment
she is conducting with the help of the Buckfast Bee Lady, Clare
Densley, who was present, to see whether the mite, Stratiolaelaps, that
attacks the red mite that afflicts poultry, will also attack the Varroa
mite. With the aid of powerpoint and and Excel bar chart she was able
to show us the results so far.These are exactly the same mites that are
used by The Chicken Vet.

Whereas the graph of the controls showed the expected steeply rising <---this was the untreated colonies
curve, that of the treated colonies showed an undulating wave along the
bottom of the graph showing that the treatment works.

[jim lyon]

Off topic a bit -- does anyone here find bee lice in their hives even occasionally? Bee lice are flies (wingless, but still flies). I'd like a few dead specimens in good condition if I could get them, but I've yet to find any in my hives.

I will keep an eye out. A bit better description perhaps? Size, coloring etc.?

[Kieck]

Bee lice are about the same size as Varroa mites, and about the same color. Bee lice probably look more round or long, rather than the oval, wide appearance of Varroa. I've read that bee lice adults may be found on queens, they may preferentially seek out the queens, but they do no real harm to the bees.

I've only ever seen a few pinned bee lice in person. I keep looking for some, but have yet to find any.

[Michael Bush]

https://www.google.com/search?num=10...Dern2QWhl4H4CA

The above will give you hundreds of pictures of braula coeca (bee louse). If you see one on a bee they in no way resemble a Varroa. A Varroa is flat and you never really see their legs without a magnifying glass. The bee louse is more likely on the head or just behind the head their legs are very noticeable and they stand up off of the surface, where a Varroa looks more like a freckle ON the surface.

[Kieck]

Have you seen any recently, Michael? I am completely serious that I would like to obtain some specimens, preferably frozen.

[Michael Bush]

>Have you seen any recently, Michael?

I have not seen any for more than a decade at least.

[Kieck]

Too bad. I keep hoping to find some. If anyone comes across any in their bees, please let me know.

I started into keeping honeybees after Varroa were already widespread, and bee lice were likely pushed out by the combination of the more competitive mites and the chemical treatments used against those mites.

[Michael Bush]

Braula coeca are not mites. They are not really lice (although that is their common name), they are actually wingless flies...

[beemandan]

If it does help, we would have killed them off years ago with the acaracides...

I wonder why we seem to have such great success in killing off the beneficials but seem unable to make a dent in the parasites?