Mites! Advice please...

[Lozziegp]

My apologies if this is the wrong place for this post.
We have two bee boxes in our garden that we've had there for about 3 years but yesterday i noticed that the bees had large masses of mites on them.
I googled for a bit to try and see what it was and what we could do about it but the available treatments for mites seem to be for hives with strips that are placed between frames etc.
I've attached a picture of one of the bees covered in mites.

Can anyone give me any advice for treatment that i could use?

 

[BeeJayBee]

I don't know much about Bumble bees, but there's some decent-looking information on the Bumblebee Trust http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/faqs/ something else on Wild about Britain http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/insects-and-invertebrates/24066-bumble-bee-mites.html

 

[VEG]

I think they are pollen mites

 

[masterBK]

Most mites on Bumblebees are commensal and harmless to the bee feeding on the detritus in the nest. They hitch a ride on the bee.

 

[beekeeping4you]

Most mites on Bumblebees are commensal and harmless to the bee feeding on the detritus in the nest. They hitch a ride on the bee.

Like 'Braula' on honey bees before the arrival of Varroa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braulidae
(Braula coeca - nowadays an endangered species! In the good old pre Varroa days I sometimes found dozens of them on mellifera queen bees, they could be removed with tobacco smoke...)

Regards
Reiner

 

[ellypatt]

Don't know about the mites but that's not a bumble bee, more likely a solitary bee. What bee boxes do you have?

 

[Lozziegp]

Thank you for the replies.

Yes I think I posted to the wrong section. They aren't honey bees, they're solitary bees I believe.
If the mites aren't a health issue to the bees then it's fine I suppose, but not being an expert I googled "bee mites" and then read all about varroa and panicked a bit.

I just have two of the bee boxes you can get from garden centres, looks a box stuffed full of cut bamboo? The bees seem to like them anyway.