Varroa destructor: How they are ACTUALLY harming our bees

• #1- Research and Common belief up to this point.

• #2- What the Research is NOW saying.

• #3- What we can DO about it!

Now let’s get into the core of each point! This issue may be a bit more wordy than usual but TOTALLY and COMPLETELY worth it. Like top secret stuff worth it 😉 .

Point #1- What we thought we were battling up to this point.

To skip all of the references to past research done on how Varroa destructor has been perceived to be harming our honey bee colonies, I will sum it here and get straight to the point.

It has been thought that Varroa has been feeding on the hemolymph (blood) of the honey bee during its larval and pupal stages while in the cell, during the developmental period of the brood.

This is why we primarily believe that emerging adult honey bees come out “lacking” nutritionally and physically (as seen from deformed wing virus), etc.

That’s the short, to-the-point summary of what we have been told to date by researchers for the last 50 years. However, that may not be the case any longer and if so, I believe we are in a better position to battle Varroa now, more than ever.

But first, let’s see what the research is saying now.

Point #2- What the research is NOW saying.

I first heard this information at my local beekeeping club in Gilmer County, GA. Our guest speaker brought a printed out, research article that has new information regarding what is ACTUALLY happening inside of the cell during the developmental period of our honey bees.

I’m going to tell you now exactly what that is and the implications it has on why this perceived battle has been such a guessing game.

According to PNAS, Proceeds of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, in a research article titled, Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph, apparently researchers have found a way to “illuminate” what exactly Varroa are feeding on and thereby indicating also what they are not feeding on.

Scientists were able to somehow inject the fat body tissue with something that “glows” so that they can track it, finding out that the mites were indeed feeding on it.

There are THREE huge reasons why this discovery is significant:

• Firstly, the fat body tissues of the honey bee are extremely similar to the function of our livers. For honey bees the fat body is, “a tissue integral to proper immune function, pesticide detoxification, overwinter survival, and several other essential processes in healthy bees.”

• Secondly, this means that this whole time, the strategy of our pest & disease management system has been missing the mark; our aim has been slightly off and therefore not as affective, explaining the confusing and confounding results we get as we continue struggling year after year. Although this part seems like it kinda sucks, it’s actually good because…

• Lastly, now that we (hopefully) know and realize what is actually happening at the heart of our brood nests, we can come up with and implement a brilliant plan and strategy that will ideally hit closer to the target, thereby giving our honey bee colonies the upper hand.

You can read the entire article for yourself here if you would like.

Now I gotta tell you, I have used MANY mite treatment methods on differing time schedules with varying results. The MOST effective has been using OAV on a regular schedule in spring, summer and fall.

That being said, I am still confounded when I see dead-out colonies in late winter, early spring where they seemingly “starved” to death only two inches away from honey stores! A clear sign of a heavy mite load.

I have a theory that they are not starving from lack of carbohydrates (honey) but rather they are starving from lack of fat! What if the mites sucked enough fat from my bees that they almost but didn’t quite make it to spring time when more pollen (fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, protein ) became available again?

So technically, my bees don’t starve from lack of honey but rather from lack of body mass! And their fatty body mass comes in the form of POLLEN! It’s literally being sucked out of them on a consistent basis when mites are present; equivalent to the mite population at the time.

Point #3- What we can DO and how to take affective action!

Okay, so IF the research is correct or at least finally getting closer to what is actually happening parasitically between our honey bees and mites, what does that mean? Can we do anything about it differently than what we have been doing?

-I say YES we can!-

However, before I get into what I believe we can do, it’s important to first at least be aware of one thing that research has agreed on for years: that one of the challenges we have as beekeepers is the lack of nutrition in pollen availability.

All biological organisms require diverse diets in order to thrive. We have so many mono crops that honey bees pollinate this day in age that the majority of our bees that are commercially operated are only getting one type of pollen at times of the year, rather than pollen from diverse floral sources on a fairly regular basis.

Knowing that diverse pollen sources are required for healthy bees, coupled with the fact that our colonies require pollen for fat bodies to have the energy and vitality against virus’ and a plethora of other things, and overwinter successfully, it makes sense to me that if we could find a way to supply that to them on a more regular basis than we currently do, our colonies would change drastically and the battle against Varroa would no longer be a battle, but hopefully a brighter and brighter victory as we learn, grow and adapt our methodologies and thinking.

Here’s more about HiveAlive Pollen Patties at their YouTube Channel.

Okay, so by now you may see what I’m getting at and you believe this is something that we can tackle, right? Here’s what I think can be done:

• First of all, and this may not make sense at first but stick with me! We must STOP giving pollen patties to our bees in the fall when our local area is ALSO no longer offering pollen naturally. Why? Because as long as there is pollen coming in, the queen will continue to lay, thereby increasing the number of mouths that need to be fed and the mite population that we failed to get under control previously in the year.

• Second, we must get a quality pollen patty on our bees as early as possible in late winter, early spring so that the surviving bees can begin to replenish their depleted fat stores from natural use and from parasitical depletion.

• Third, between spring and fall as we continue to implement an effective mite treatment, we should consider (I sure am) feeding each colony a pollen patty possibly every month? Certainly during our dearths.

• Last of all, this must be a pollen patty rather than pollen powder substitute. Bees don’t eat honey and they don’t eat pollen but they do eat a mixture of the two known as Bee Bread. Pollen patties readily mimic Bee Bread and are an immediate source of the highly needed fats that I’ve been talking about.

Out of all the pollen patties that I have used through the years, including the home-made ones, the highest quality one in my opinion and that I now use on a consistent basis is the ones offered by HiveAlive linked here for you. In fact, I just ordered more for feeding in late March as I write this in mid-March. The nutrients in these is unlike anything else.

It’s crucial however to couple this extra incoming “bee bread” for our bees while still treating for mites like I do with OAV treatments. It’s like a one, two punch knockout! At least that is my great hope.

Here are some of my YouTube videos showing you how to treat for Varroa depending on the style OAV that you have:

• Wand Style video here.

• Nozzle Style video here.

Get everything bee-related that you need this year from Blythewood Bee Company. Check out their inventory here! Blythewood Bee CO. Btw, the owner is the guy who invented Swarm Commander! Get yours and attract some free bees this year!

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom 😉. I want to hear from you!