Worldwide Beekeeping

Beekeeping => Pests and Diseases => Topic started by: pistolpete on July 26, 2014, 05:18:56 pm

Title: What the heck is this?
Post by: pistolpete on July 26, 2014, 05:18:56 pm: I saw a bee going nuts on the landing board, trying to groom. I caught the bee and found this guy in between the wings. About 1/2 the size of a varroa mite. Is it a bee louse?
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs28.postimg.cc%2Fcq08znjhl%2Fmite.jpg&hash=5017aeb71cf814a2ef24af144da2d9ed09de4def) (http://postimg.cc/image/cq08znjhl/)
Title: Re: What the heck is this?
Post by: LazyBkpr on July 26, 2014, 06:28:46 pm: 1/2 the size of a varroa and you got that good a picture of it? OK, I am impressed... No idea what it is though.. interested in seeing if anyone else does.
Title: Re: What the heck is this?
Post by: G3farms on July 26, 2014, 08:50:52 pm: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bees/bee_louse.htm
Title: Re: What the heck is this?
Post by: pistolpete on July 26, 2014, 10:42:23 pm: well, I guess it's not a bee louse, sure seemed to bother the bee and it was burried in the fur. Took the picture with a 100 mm macro lens and a +1 diopter filter. Took about 6 pictures to get a reasonably clean one.
Title: Re: What the heck is this?
Post by: apisbees on July 27, 2014, 02:52:38 pm: Pete Do you have John Gates Email if so send him an email and attach the picture he may have come across it or knows who to ask about it.
Title: Re: What the heck is this?
Post by: efmesch on July 27, 2014, 03:13:58 pm: 1. It's not a bee louse (Braula coeca)
2. In spite of the quality of the picture, it's hard to say what it is. I would guess a young instar of a mite. It's hard to tell if those appendages in front are anterior legs (mites have 4 pairs, but the younger instars of some mites have only 3 pairs of legs) or if the body covering is the developing wings of a young instar beetle.

Copying and pasting the enlarged picture into Google images, I got an identification for a clover mite.