Varroa and Balsam

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aberreef

Field Bee
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
591
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Location
Mid Glamorgan
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
5 hives + 3 nucs
I was watching the 'ghost' bees coming back from the balsam yesterday and a thought occured to me. Is Himalayan Balsam contributing to the spread of Varroa.

The stamens of theflowers are like a brush on the top of the flower (hence the powdered bees. Surely these knock varroa off one bee to be picked up by another:angelsad2:

Glad theres Balsam arround though. I'm staggered by how much nectar they are bringing in atm:hurray:
 
I would have thought it helps get rid of them, what with the white pollen on the bees' backs. Looks like they've been treated with icing sugar.
 
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