Broken (Eaten?) wing

[astabada]

Dear All,
yesterday afternoon I found one of my bees with a wing that looks like it has been eaten. This is not the first time, should I worry?

 

[RogueDrone]

Have you checked for Varoea could be deformed wings due to mite count.

 

[susbees]

Varroa don't eat wings, they suck haemolymph ("blood"). Deformed wing virus can be in the injected brew to keep the feed hole patent and can lead to shrivelled wings...not like these.

Older foragers can have pretty bashed up wings with bits missing but this does look more like it's maybe been caught and broken. Apart from getting snagged in a queen excluder can't think. Or someone's trying out queen clipping on your workers!

 

[astabada]

Hi,

thanks for your replies. I confirm that:
- the wings are not deformed, but torn/ripped
- it is a forager bee, found a few meters from the hive
- I've never seen one such bee inside the hive
- I've seen several drones in the last month with such damage (always outside the hive)
- my varroa counts are really really low (0 mites in 7 days)

I was thinking about birds trying to catch them in flight or other predators, but I'd definitely exclude varroa damage for the above mentioned reasons.

Best
astabada

 

[Queens59]

With the bad weather perhaps your workers are getting rid of drone?? Workers can snag their wings on all sorts...or if they are drifting and trying to enter a strange hive they can be nibbled to persuade them to leave...

 

[nessieb]

Could be Deformed Wing virus but also my mentor has told me that old forager bee wings can go to look a bit worn

 

[Swarm]

As pointed out by Susbees DWV = shrivelled wings. This on is displaying broken, battered wing syndrome )), resulting from many foraging flights.

 

[psafloyd]

She's dark, isn't she?

 

[astabada]

She's dark, isn't she?

No not really, they are probably a local type (Oxfordshire). Here's another picture, as you can see not so dark.

 

[astabada]

As pointed out by Susbees DWV = shrivelled wings. This on is displaying broken, battered wing syndrome )), resulting from many foraging flights.

Good to know!