First queen bumble bee but she was covered in mites?

[biglongdarren]

i was down at my vegetable patch yesterday when a massive queen bumble bee came over to say hello,she kept coming back and landing on or near a white bucket then a piece of blue plastic,was she seeing the colour and thinking it was flowers???
she then landed on the grass and i was able to get right down beside her and that was when i notied that between her thorax and adormen was covered with hundreds of tiny white louse or mites,they were in under her wings also,
any idea what they were and do they do them any harm??
Darren

 

[victor meldrew]

i was down at my vegetable patch yesterday when a massive queen bumble bee came over to say hello,she kept coming back and landing on or near a white bucket then a piece of blue plastic,was she seeing the colour and thinking it was flowers???
she then landed on the grass and i was able to get right down beside her and that was when i notied that between her thorax and adormen was covered with hundreds of tiny white louse or mites,they were in under her wings also,
any idea what they were and do they do them any harm??
Darren

Not braula . The name escapes me but pretty harmless
VM

 

[Poggle]

"These mites do not actually harm bees directly. In sufficient numbers they can make flight or even movement difficult. We suggest that people try coaxing the mites off the bees using a childs paint brush.

At least 15 genera of mites are associated with bumblebees. The most familiar of these are mites of the genus Parasitellus which are very often to be seen attached to the bodies of adult bumblebees, particularly queens. These mites are only ever found in close association with bumblebees. However, they do not feed directly upon bumblebees, but are phoretic, using the adult bees for transport between nests. This is a common phenomenon; mites have poor locomotory abilities, but with their small size they can easily attach themselves to larger organisms and so gain a free ride. Parasitellus species are thought to feed upon wax, pollen, and other small arthropods that are found in bumblebee nests. Only the deutonymph stage is phoretic, colonising new nests by transferring from workers to flowers, and then awaiting the arrival of another worker. The prevalence of Parasitellus spp. is generally high - up to 80% of queens are affected. With this level of prevalence at the beginning of the season, it is not surprising that the vast majority of bumblebee nests become infested by the end of their growth.

Because these mites do not feed upon the bees themselves, it is debatable whether they have a negative impact. However, infestation levels can be high. Up to 165 mite have been found on a single. It seems inevitable that loads of this magnitude must hamper a queen's ability to fly, and so her ability to find food, a mate and a hibernation site. Try to help these queens by brushing off the mites."

Not my words taken from a bumble be website

 

[biglongdarren]

this lady that i seen yesterday had 165 on her and probably more,she looked hampered with them but i never thought of helping her,
next time though i'll take actions,she was a beauty.
Darren

 

[Erichalfbee]

Fascinating
Thanks

 

[Woeski]

She was looking for the entrance to the mouse nest she could smell.
They nest in old mouse nests in the ground. Either the bucket was near one, or mice have been on the bucket.

 

[VEG]

pollen mites?

 

[Hombre]

Ghost riders . . .

 

[Polyanwood]

Apparently they are phoretic mites that live on nest debris....they are not evil blood suckers like varroa...we had a talk on it this week. The proper name for them sounded like parasite, but they aren't proper parasites, more scavengers.