Red mite

[mystil]

Hello Guys
Just had a look at our hive and saw aload of black mites on the outside of the hive. 6 legged, quite tiny (less than one mm across).

Any ideas what they could be?

Not varroa, look alittle like chicken red mite.

 

[mystil]

Anyone had this happen to them? We are going to get a small blow torch and torch the outside of the hive to kill off the mites.

Any other suggestions?
Thanks

 

[fredbloggs]

Might be an idea to scrape some off into a container amd pop in freezer. Perhaps the nat history museum or RHS will identify them . My apiary landowner gets the rhs to identify anything that lands on his fruit trees but he might be a member? You can then identify the source . After you have cremated what you can see, the source might replenish them?

Regards

FB

 

[mystil]

Cheers for the reply. We do have chickens so maybe they have come from them? However they are at the other end of the garden.

As a last resort I have burned where I think the mites are living under the metal lid, between the metal and the wood. I will check again tonight to see what if anything is left. hopefully I got most of them with the hand torch I have bought.

 

[Erichalfbee]

mites have eight legs

 

[viridens]

Hello Guys
Just had a look at our hive and saw aload of black mites on the outside of the hive. 6 legged, quite tiny (less than one mm across).

Any ideas what they could be?

Not varroa, look alittle like chicken red mite.

Is it possible for you to post a close-up photo here?

 

[mystil]

I will try next week. They are SO small though that it might be difficult, but I will try.

Hubby has the camera and he has gone away.

 

[mystil]

UPDATE: We have collected afew mites and handed them over to the local bee inspector. He was going to send them off and we will hopefully get the results but not sure how long it will take.

We are flaming the hive when we see them (but not too close to the bees) and the numbers of mites seem to be smaller now as a result.