Parasites in Bees

Another field that was explored by scientists led by Jeffery S. Pettis was the possibility that known hive pests such as the Varroa mites, tracheal mites, and Nosema.  First the scientists researched what role the Varroa mites play on the bees.  The Varroa mites are tick-like insects that feed on the blood of the bee (p. 30).

The experts revealed that the “amount of mites in the CCD colonies and the healthy colonies” were closely matched.  The tracheal mites were examined next, they also feed off the blood of the honey bees, but they are much smaller and often hide in the trachea or breathing tubes of the bees.  When the team finished their research, they concluded that the counts were almost nonexistent in both healthy and CCD bees.  The final infection that the scientists looked for was Nosema, which is a parasite that causes diarrhea in bees.  Normally bees “rarely empty their bowels in the hive” the bees usually “fly outside and away from the hive to relieve themselves” even when it is cold outside.  When a bee is affected by Nosema, they cannot “control their bowel movements; they are forced to defecate in and around the hive, leaving a distinct red-orange splatter”.  The team of scientists looked for the parasite itself, but their results came to the same conclusion as did the previous pests, there was “no connection between Nosema … and CCD” (pp. 30-31).