How do Varroa Mites know when to leave a hive?

Varroa mites are one of the single most detrimental stressors to honey bees.  Living off the blood of young bees and replicating alongside the capped, young honey bee larvae, they also rapidly spread viruses to the colony.  If the bite from the mites don't cause the bees' death, the viruses usually do.

Varroa mite on a bee.  Photo by Alex Wild  www.AlexanderWild.com

But, if you are a living organism that is constantly killing your host, how do you survive?

Researchers in Italy may have answer to this question. The results of their study are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.  It suggests that varroa mites will stay within a hive with low levels of mite infestation.  There, they ride on the backs of the nurse bees which rarely venture far from the hive.  They can distinguish them from older foraging bees by the difference in their 'smell' - presumably by the chemical make-up contained in the wax coating in their backs. However, as the mite level increases, the odor differences become less and less distinguishable.  This allows the mites to attach to foragers where they can leave the hive on a regular basis.  Once outside the hive, these hitch hikers have a better chance of ending up in a neighboring hive as bees naturally drift between colonies.

So, now that we know the chemical odor that attracts varroa mites, my question is:  Could we make a trap for them baited with this odor?  Or, would it befoul the delicate balance of natural volatilized chemical compounds found within the hive?

Read more:
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/217/17/2998.abstract
http://entomologytoday.org/2014/08/29/how-do-varroa-mites-know-when-to-leave-honey-bee-hives-its-all-in-the-bees-wax/

Did you catch the lastest 'Buzz' in Bee Culture?

I'm excited to see the September 2014 issue of Bee Culture magazine.  When it arrives in the mail every month, it is always contains a wide array of interesting bee information that I can't wait to read.  But this month, it includes an article that I wrote about the advancements in queens we are trying to make in the Midwest through the cooperation of queen producers in the Heartland Honey Bee Breeders Cooperative.

Geez Beez Bottling Day

Early in the year, Geez Beez Honey made the decision to concentrate on bee production and sales  instead of honey production.  The reason:  the cold, harsh, long winter which resulted in a 60% bee loss for Indiana beekeepers.  

The sale of small colonies of bees known as nucs exceeded our expectations and taxed our available 'woman'power this spring.  But, the people that we met along the way made it all worthwhile. 

If you are a one of our customers who enjoy the sweet treats provided our bees known as 'world class flying machines', don't despair.   We didn't forget you!  We started bottling this week.

Drone production starts when colony size is right

Researchers at  Cornell University recently published the results online of a study entitled

"A critical number of workers in a honeybee colony triggers investment in reproduction". 

Abstract:  "Social insect colonies, like individual organisms, must decide as they develop how to allocate optimally their resources among survival, growth, and reproduction. Only when colonies reach a certain state do they switch from investing purely in survival and growth to investing also in reproduction. But how do worker bees within a colony detect that their colony has reached the state where it is adaptive to begin investing in reproduction? Previous work has shown that larger honeybee colonies invest more in reproduction (i.e., the production of drones and queens), however, the term ‘larger’ encompasses multiple colony parameters including number of adult workers, size of the nest, amount of brood, and size of the honey stores. These colony parameters were independently increased in this study to test which one(s) would increase a colony’s investment in reproduction via males. This was assayed by measuring the construction of drone comb, the special type of comb in which drones are reared. Only an increase in the number of workers stimulated construction of drone comb. Colonies with over 4,000 workers began building drone comb, independent of the other colony parameters. These results show that attaining a critical number of workers is the key parameter for honeybee colonies to start to shift resources towards reproduction. These findings are relevant to other social systems in which a group’s members must adjust their behavior as a function of the group’s size. "

Frame with drone brood on the bottm

See the full text  of the study

An overlooked and valuable beekeeping tool

While learning to sky dive, my instructor told me that one day I would be able to see the plane when I left it.  Being new to the sport, I really had no idea what he was talking about until one day it happened.  At 13,000 feet over the Florida coastline, I left the twin engine plane through the side door. While my body plummeted toward the earth I looked up and saw the plane.  After about 20 jumps, I was finally getting accustomed to the routine.  I knew the sights, sounds, smells, and was used to the force of wind pealing back my cheeks.  My circle of vision was gradually increasing as my level of comfort increased.

Now, skydiving has nothing really to do with beekeeping.  But the lesson of an increasing circle of vision applies to the concept of learning anything new- beekeeping included.  You put on your suit, light a smoker and take off with hive tool in tow.  The sights, sounds, smells are new and unique.  You've studied the books, attended classes but once you open up the hive, it's all a blur.  You're sure the first drone you see is a queen.  Does my wax look right?  Are they trying to swarm?  You're circle of vision is very narrow.  But there is a tool that will help.

With the advent of the smart phone, most everyone is an arms length away from a camera. Therefore,  I highly recommend that a smart phone (or other small type camera) become a regular tool used in hive inspections. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words and in the case of hive inspections, it is no different.

You can snap a photo of that bee you thought was a queen.  Later that night, at home, you can blow it up and see that it is actually a drone.  And, look there is a mite on his back.  In the cell under him is a small larvae.  How in the world did I miss all of that?   Don't worry, your circle of vision will increase as your anxiety levels wane and your comfort level and experience increases .  But, until that happens, use all the tools you have available.

And, still don't quite understand what you are seeing when the photo is blown up on a big screen.  Now is the time to email the photo(s) to your mentor and ask. If your mentor is like me, they would love to be there for every hive inspection but it just isn't possible.  Email isn't usually conducive to debugging hive problems but a few photos might help answer a question.  Like . . .is this my queen? I think I'm seeing eggs in this photo - do you? 

Additionally, as your circle of vision increases, continue to take photos of what is blooming as well as the inside and outside views of your hive and what activities you are performing that day.  Use these photos as a journal of your beekeeping activities.  Next year, when you aren't quite sure when to add supers, go back and look at what was happening from the previous year as your guide.

Note:  You might consider getting a cover for your phone as propolis ridden gloves can gum things up in a hurry.