Bees don't normally die in the hive except in winter because they can't get out. In a way they are like dogs that run off in the woods and die. In winter I suspect the mite would die when the bee falls to the bottom if it is still attached. More than likely the mite stays in the center of the cluster where it is warm so not many mites die when the bee dies.
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They can live as long as the bee does right through winter otherwise they would be extinct up here.I asked a similar question here last winter about how long mites might live off of a bee and I believe I was told that 15 days was the max.
Is it typical that a mite would be off a bee for fifteen days or is it typical that the mite would jump on another host?>
Varroa will starve to death without a bee long before winter is over.
Ah, that is pretty easy, just keep the live ones.It is the viruses the mites pass to the bees that actually kill the colony. Some bees adapt to the viruses, some don't. It is up to the beekeeper to observe and select resistant bees.
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