Keeping bees means keeping mites too . . .

They say that there's not a single bee hive in the UK that has not got some infestation of Varroa Mite.  These delightful little creatures share their life cycle with the honey bee, partially on the bees themselves but also sharing the brood cells with the young bees.  They are so well tuned in to the life cycle of the bees that they become difficult to eradicate.

Single Varroa Mite

The bee keeper can only hope to control them, keeping their numbers down to levels that will not interfere with the health of the colony.

Various chemicals controls have been used in the past and, just as with human anti-biotics, have developed strains that are resistant.  These resistant mites reproduce and generate more of the same.  If the bee keeper continues to use the same treatments then resistance builds up in the hive to a point where control is useless.

It seems the only partial solution is to use various treatments and monitor mite numbers using a varroa mesh floor. There are many products available, but you can only aim to reduce numbers not get rid.  It would seem that for now these mites are a constant annoyance to the bees and the bee keeper.

More on our main site at http://www.questforthegoodlife.co.uk/varroa-mites.html