Mite on Bumblebee?

[Marcia]

Hi Everyone,

Every summer I try to rescue some bumblebees from my garden giving them some water and honey or warmth in cold days. Some recover well, some unfortunetely don't. Today I've found two bumblebees, both very poorly, wobbling badly and both died. On the second one I've found a tiny kind of "mite" between the bee's abdomen and chest. We managed to take some pictures:





On the picture, the pesky thing is on top of a small dried rosemary leaf.

Could this mite have cause the bumblebee's death?

I've found the bee on the lawn so it's possible that the mite had just climbed on it.

Any thoughts would be very much appreciate.

Thanks a lot.

Marcia

[cara pace]

Hi Marcia,

I'm wondering if this could be a Varroa mite? I know these are a problem with honey bees, but I'm not sure if they also affect the bumble bees?

Good photo's by the way!

[Marcia]

Oh! Just noticed PaulineMiller10's great thread (Bumble Bee's Story).

Seems like it's a common mite in bumblebees and it's not harmful...
I've never noticed them before...
Will pay more attention from now on

I thought those mites could be those that cause CCD!
Panic averted... sorry...

[Marcia]

Hi Cara Pace, for what I've found out with Professor Google, the Varroa mite looks different from that one on my bee:



It's dark red and round. Horrible thing

Thanks, the first picture is mine, the second is my husband's. I hate to admit he's a better photographer than me.

Marcia

[cara pace]

Thanks Marcia,
Glad to hear that it's nothing sinister. Those mites are creepy!

[Jason Green]

Morning Marcia,

The one you've photographed is a Phoretic Mite, quite harmless in low numbers (though they can get heavier and flight-affecting in high quantity). There are several parasites that can kill bees - some living in the abdomen and eating the host from the inside, others not but still developing in-part internally.

It's possible the Mite photographed had been part of a group, that alighted when s/he landed, or climbed on when he was down.

Take care,

Jason

[paulinemiller10]

Your poor bumblebee looks very thin Marcia, maybe she could'nt find enough to eat, but she may just be at the end of her time, worker bumbles have a life span of around 20 days, sometimes a bumble carrying too many mites can get tired with the extra weight, I washed one the other day, it was carrying a load and had landed on the feeder and was too tired to fly, she was fine when she was rid of them. Pauline.

[Marcia]

Hi Jason, thank you for your explanations, poor bees have it tough... Even though those mites are harmless, it's an extra weight to carry, not to mention the annoyance...

Hi Pauline, most of the bumble bees in my garden are that size, quite thin... They feast on a massive buddleia bush and that's were I find the poorly or too tired ones... I read your thread, you've very inspiring person. Love the bath idea, will use it if I see one too insfested.