Mite Infestations Are Wiping Out Hives

“I think I have Tropilaelaps mites in my hives. I'm in Georgia ,Caucasus and I'm seeing small mites in/around the brood cells. Has anyone dealt with Tropilaelaps ? How did you confirm it, and what treatment worked for you? submitted by /u/Imaginary_Food_7102 [link] [comments]”

“Hive beetles too over and I believe killed my new VSH Queen that I was trying to introduce to the colony. Two days later I go in to make sure they accepted her, and she was dead and so was her entourage. When I removed her from the cage that's when I noticed tiny white worms all over her and the cage and sugar plug!! At this point it's too late to try and requeen. I have removed the honey ceiling and a few of the honey frames that were not dark in color and put them all in the freezer. S”

“Im a beekeeper 4 months in SE Wy. My son spotted this bee outside of a split I did with a bunch of supercedure cells Sunday. Would this be one of the queens? Feel free to poke fun. Thick skin here. submitted by /u/Iorek0317 [link] [comments]”

“random pic of my hives from early summer because they are pretty *Hello - this is my second year of owning hives. I live in Southern Ontario - 6a. My first hive two years ago failed so this year I got two NUC colonies I started in June . They were amazing and managed to fill a whole deep each and a medium super full . I put on another super on top to prevent swarming but did not get much in terms of comb or honey . I have FORMIC PRO strips ready to put on and was wondering if I would be able to”

“Hello! I just noticed this pile of buildup right outside my hive. Just curious if others have seen it/what it might be. I treated for mites a few days ago with Varroxsan and I'm wondering if it's killing mites and the girls and dragging them out and leaving them there? First year beekeeper in Colorado submitted by /u/rapinoe_s [link] [comments]”

“I'm going to the city in a week to go pick up hives (not bees) for spring 2027. I have a beesuit already, besides a hive tool and a smoker do I need anything else? Should I get mite treatment right away? Or as I need it. Thanks for any advice or tips! (BC,Canada) submitted by /u/i__love__bathbombs [link] [comments]”

“South central Illinois 1st year newbie I'm going to treat hives with Apigaurd. Is it necessary to remove supers since they are dedicated to the bees this winter? submitted by /u/old_man_74 [link] [comments]”

“Good morning, A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of our beehive. The bees were building their comb kinda weirdly. The general opinion was, that they are lacking wax, to smush down what they had built and add more wax to help them thrive. We did just that. They're thriving. I'm saying They're thriving but I'm actually not 100% sure about that. When is it enough? Can they overflow/outgrow their beehive and then leave? When we checked the beehive the other day it was FULL. Two”

“They are getting rid of the drones and one just landed next to the hive with varroa still attached, I did the wash last weekend and there was nothing. That family is always super clean. submitted by /u/zwierze1982 [link] [comments]”

“There have been some questionable things happening in my hive. There were some weird things happening with the queen cells but no swarm, also I cannot locate the queen. The bees have gone from beautifully curious and cute to stinging a lot. They’ve stung my husband a couple of times, and now stalk him through the entire acre we have to sting him, even when we haven’t been near the hive that day. They have stung me 3 times in 72 hours. Once on my nose through the mesh of the hat. It’s been a lot.”

“Had a very high mite count. Treated with Apiguard for 4 weeks. No I have VERY little brood and larva. New mite count was low. What should I do next? submitted by /u/BandicootPast [link] [comments]”

“Hey all, I wanted to post and get some input about my situation and what may have happened. I implemented the Apivar in my two hives earlier this week. Within 12 hours I had a pretty large die off and lots of disoriented bees unable to fly on the floor outside my hives. They were extremely active since 6 in the morning the next day after treatment and did not calm down until the evening. I know some die off is expected with the extra stress to the bees but this seemed excessive. It even caused o”

“That it is mid-August and swarm season is over. We generally run single deeps which is part of the problem. This is one of our 2026 grafts. This hive has 8 frames of brood / larvae and so we had to demarre it to hopefully keep her in place. This, plus 3 of the hives we requeened by combining boxes will all be wintered as doubles. submitted by /u/BaaadWolf [link] [comments]”

“In my 4th year beekeeping central tx and just dying to see how well stinging nettle helped my hives. This is far from conclusive as I didn’t test prior to adding it. I had it on 2 hives and one without. The hive without was at 8/300 but also had heavy beetle load and no traps.. The ones with nettle on top were at 4/300 and 1/300. It was over a 2 week period. I smoked the higher number hives with dried nettle and added swiffer sheets to the worst one. This was not a wide experiment and didn’t do”

“I had a colony that swarmed back in mid-June. I had a couple of inspections with no brood or eggs but then finally got a visual on the queen about four weeks later. Last week I had some eggs and capped brood so I assumed all was well. Yesterday I went to do a mite check and found my original queen on one frame, a new queen on the next frame, and a capped supercedure cell. What in the world are they doing in there? submitted by /u/Intelligent-Pepper31 [link] [comments]”

“Portsmouth New Hampshire here. I have three hives. All about 10 inches apart. One of the three hives is lagging behind this year. So, last week I tested for mites, twice. Both times with zero mites through alcohol wash. Can I assume since the other two hives are going gang busters, that because of proximity their mite number would be similar. Or should I test the other two just in case? submitted by /u/Tradesby [link] [comments]”

“Hello all. I live in central Pa. I just finished a varroxsan treatment on August 4th on three all-medium hives (Nucs bought in April). Alcohol wash suggests mites in check at 1-2 mite counts. Queen, eggs, larva and brood observed with calm bees all season. I’m looking at doing an August/September mite treatment. Last season I had used Apivar but did lose my bees in winter due to dysentery. What would be the best options? If I use Thymol I’d need to wait closer to late August due to temperature c”

“Northern California 1st year 5 hives. I read somewhere that stinging nettle leaves placed across the frames inside the hives is a good way to control mites. Anyone have any success with that? submitted by /u/Embarrassed_Ranger20 [link] [comments]”

“Grafted end of May Has moved from 3 frame mating Muc to 5 frame Nuc to full hive. Has produced a full super of honey as well. submitted by /u/BaaadWolf [link] [comments]”

“Unfortunately had a very high mite count of 20+ from 300 bees. Using apigaurd now. Anything else I can be doing? submitted by /u/BandicootPast [link] [comments]”

“Found second swarm in the last few weeks that really really small and has a young queen. Both of them were cut in my main apiary where I have about 20 hives. We are in Georgia US and it’s late for swarms, especially this size. First one I placed in maiting nuc and queen is laying really good. Just never had them before this size or maybe I just wasn’t around when it happened. submitted by /u/carsimex [link] [comments]”

“I have a hive that's doing very well. 2 brood boxes are filled out, a full honey super (which I am about to harvest), and food storage is really good. There is this frame in the top brood box that is 100% filled with honey, and it is very large. It is so large that the bees are unable to build comb out on the frames right beside it. Do you think I should harvest it? They have plenty of food storage elsewhere. Thanks! Located in Lancaster, PA. submitted by /u/Martylog78_ [link] &#”

“Denver, Colorado, 5b Hive is new to me, Sunday will have had it had it 3 weeks. Took a bit for the girls to calm down, wanted to get a proper mite count. The prior owner/keeper believed in treating no count, treatment method was apiguard mid may for less than 30 days. The hive was in an area that was super hot with full sun, now it is part shade and protected from heavy afternoon sun. Currently have a pollen patty feeding and tons of flowers in the yard. Should I add sugar water beyond fresh wat”

“Hey everyone. Im in zone 3B (usually the temps reflect it, but it has been so much warmer lately). Last year when I went to do an alcohol wash i didnt have more than 1 mite 300 and so i didnt treat. I tested in July/August and then never checked them again, but lost all (three) hives to mites. Should I have checked them throughtout the winter and treated? So my question is what should my treatment schedule look like and with what medicine? Right now I have honey supers on, but i think we might b”

“Recently treated this hive for mites (July 10 in middle Tennessee) using Varroxsan strips. Then had surgery and couldn’t check my hive for about 2 weeks. Today most of my frames look like this… I have larvae and some eggs but virtually no honey anywhere and it seems like far less bees. We’ve had tons of rain and my flowers are still blooming so my assumption was I didn’t have to feed them, but now I’m realizing I’ve probably starved my hive! I’m feeding now with 2:1 sugar syrup. Should I assume”

“This is a follow up from last week. I placed a Russian/Italian hybrid small queen from Lappes bee supply in a California mini cage in on Wednesday night. Went back this morning and the cage was empty the candy was gone. Would they release her if they weren’t going to accept her? First time requeening. I am feeding them, I’m in KY 6B. submitted by /u/Available-Nail-4308 [link] [comments]”

“South of France ! First year beekeeper here (2 hives). I'm realizing I have no real system for tracking things like when I last did a mite wash, what the count was, when I treated and with what, whether I actually rechecked after treatment to see if it worked. Right now it's just scattered notes on my phone and I feel like I'm going to lose track and miss something important. For those with a few seasons under your belt: do you use a notebook, a spreadsheet, an app, or just memory? A”

“Hey all, I'm a rookie second year beekeeper, Alberta Canada. My hive has exploded this year! But I am really struggling with the mites. After regular mite washes last year, I (probably mistakenly) did not treat last fall, though I didn't get above 1% This year end of May I had a count of 4mites/half cup of bees. I treated with formic pro (2 strips, 14 days). Due to exceptionally rainy weather I couldn't check again until end of June - to find I now had 12mites/half cup. I had more fo”

“I am at 8000 feet altitude in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. One of my hives looks like this today. What is happening? submitted by /u/PersonalityExternal1 [link] [comments]”

“New beekeeper in Pennsylvania, bought an established hive. just checked for mites not sure if i’m seeing pollen and debris or if all these specs are mites. Any help is appreciated. submitted by /u/GeeDarnHooligan [link] [comments]”

“I have an 8 frame hive with honey super above it, they got varroa and i want to treat it , I'm gonna remove the super and begin with the treatment but since it's almost August will it be a bad winter for the bees with only one box? Or they'll be fine? Or should i add another brood box for them to fill with food and honey to feed on in the winter? I'm in the Kingdom of Jordan if this info is of any importance submitted by /u/Nabas97 [link] [comments]”

“Me and my wife did our first removal together today (her first) and the people we'd removed the hive for had said that itd only been there 1 or 2 months, but it was FULL of honey and very large, had 10ish top to bottom comb peices (top to bottom being about 1-1.5 feet and about 3-4 inches thick) and all of them were stacked with brood and there was even a comb with like 15 swarm cells. Some of the comb had browned too, witch id never seen happen in just a month or 2. So long story short, how”

“I just added a second deep to my 8 frame swarm hive that has 7/8 frames completely drawn out and filled with either brood or honey. They’ve got one side of frame 8 drawn and half the other side. I added a new deep with fresh foundation two days ago and I’m feeding 1:1 sugar water. What else do I need to do to help them get ready for winter? Also, very few have moved into the top deep so far. Photo above. Do I need to remove it? I was afraid they’d throw a secondary swarm. Other than that one sid”

“Proud of my hive cut out and this queen! submitted by /u/CoconutInside352 [link] [comments]”

“I'm a brand new beekeeper. I got my 5 frame nuc on June 12 and I have a 10 frame box. I havent checked on them in 2 weeks. Last time they still had quite a few frames not even started. Went out this morning and looks like they have been very busy the last two weeks! I'm nervous to check each frame. I don't really want to disturb them too much but I pulled out this frame that was completely empty two weeks ago! Just added my second box today now as they definitely were ready for it, o”

“First year, sc, two hives submitted by /u/Altruistic-Draft9571 [link] [comments]”

“I am in the Piedmont NC and it is mid July. We are in the dearth. I just harvested my supers and I am wondering if I need to add empty frames in a new box. We have terrible small hive beetles here so I really don’t want to. submitted by /u/piercesdesigns [link] [comments]”

“2nd year beek in South central pa I caught a wild swarm, may 25 I transferred them from the swarm trap to a 8 frame deep hive. They had one frame of used comb, I gave them a frame of resources and a frame of brood. They have finally filled all 8 deep frames, I have a medium box with blank foundation that they are drawing in as well. I did a mite wash and found 0. My other hive right next to them (package I got in April) is two deeps has produced 8 frames of honey, and is in the process of fillin”

“I moved a frame of brood and nurses without seeing the queen and confirming she was not on the frame….. I was in a hurry…. I have a hive that is from a split in late May that is only about the size of a good nuc. It’s getting late in the season and I want to build up this hive. I have another beside it that is booming. I didn’t really have time but it will be a few days before I will be able to open the hives again so I took a frame of capped brood and moved it into the small hive. Now I get to”

“Tested a hive raised from a nuc today. The hive seems to be thriving but I thought it seemed like a good time to check for mites to stay ahead of any issues. Tested 250 bees from the brood hive and found only one (1) mite. Seems too low to believe. I think I followed the proper procedure but im still a novice (third year), so and followed up with a visual inspection of the dead bees and found nothing unusual. Do I trust these results or should I test again in a few days? I am in eastern Ontario.”

“I should have took a pic yesterday but didn't anyhow, i have a really good hive population but it looks like my queen is laying a bunch of drones. I found a cup up about 3/4 at the top of the frame halfway full of jelly. Do you think my hive is about to swarm or just want to replace my queen? submitted by /u/Boman2020 [link] [comments]”

“I got my first bee packages this spring and have a wayward mentor. I want to year and if necessary treat for mites. I have seen different methods to test and understand the alcohol wash is best but am not sure how to do it. Also, if I find mites what is the best treatment. I was going to buy the oaxalic acid but it says it should only be used fall to spring. Should I get something else? I am about 60 miles south of Fort Worth Texas. TIA! submitted by /u/WebbAcresHomestead [link] &#32”

“If I combine a split with a queen and 4 to 5 frames wirh a queenless 10 frame hive having the split on top. What do I do with the honey super thst was on the queenless hive? Do I put a queen excluder on top of the split and put the honey super on? Or do I just totally remove the honey super and get the split/ queenless hive merge done first? submitted by /u/Sad-Position-9045 [link] [comments]”

“This is the hive of a neighbor that I have been helping. They are moving today, their mentor wants to split the hive where we each take a part. They also want to treat now with Apiguard. Location: Denver Co My questions are the following - Is it too warm for apiguard? Our temps have been high 90s most days, my research shows it is too hot now. - Input on switching to Norroa or another option that works in the heat. Planning to do a sugar roll count at the split. - thoughts on splitting mid July,”

“I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on something! In mid June, one of my hives started to really slow day egg production. I thought she might be honey bound, so I reshuffled frames. By the 21st I was only seeing a handful of eggs. I also saw two supersedure cells that day. I figured alright, I will just leave them to their own devices instead of trying to find the old queen and buying a new one. Fast forward to 7/12. I decide to check on them again. I saw only 4-5 eggs (1 per cell). I wa”

“Short on stands so they will be stacked one on top and one the bottom for a bit. The bees seemed to have figured out who goes where. submitted by /u/BaaadWolf [link] [comments]”

“Central Texas 8b Last month, I did an inspection on june 8th and found plenty of eggs. Next inspection on june 18th, I found a full frame of honey had collapsed and killed the queen. 16 capped emergency cells, and no eggs. (Hives were getting too much sun, not enough water, and i shook this frame too hard during a mite wash so it collapsed instead of sagging. Problems have been fixed) I left 4 cells next to each other(probably too many, but none of the cells looked too great to my untrained eye”

“Walked past my favourite hive today, on the way to work, and I have no time to investigate, but the girls were being odd. I will try and look tomorrow, but I am concerned. Symptoms: Three or four rows of workers were lines up along the bottom of the roof, all the way round Looking through the bee exit in the roof, I can see that it is very busy in there. The entrance was crowded, but not busy They have made a small hole above the QE and they are using that as an entrance. What could be going on?”

“I’m a new beekeeper and do not want to screw this up. submitted by /u/Fabulous-Quarter-322 [link] [comments]”

“Zone 9B, coastal California/Oregon border, second year beekeeper I noticed about a week ago that a lot of my hives had empty frames with no eggs, I was starting to suspect that I was killing all of my queens, but just today I did an inspection on one of my recent splits, and there was a meted queen bulldozering around like she owned the place, but not actually laying. It appears in other highs that there is still nectar flowing and I’m seeing lots of pollen coming in on the field force, could th”

“Northern California 1st year beekeeper 4 hives I did a hive inspection yesterday and i have a few questions. the hives look pretty good... lots of honey being stored. two hives have 2 supers 1 hive has 1 super. the 4th hive had a couple setbacks and is still working in the second deep. I have extractors but none are installed on the hives at this time One of the 2 super hives has a ton of brood in the lower super. lots of honey but a significant amount of brood. This same hive has 2 deeps. the u”

“So during the weekend I took out some frames for honey extraction during which I noticed that bees are getting angry and are starting to rob other bees. The robing occurred as I was pulling out frames. Note that this was during morning hours so maybe around 9AM. After extraction, I brought back the frames to put them back in the hives so bees can clean them out. This was around sunset. As soon as I lifted the top cover, bees started swarming and attacking other hives, trying to get in through cr”

“(Reposted to add photos) 🤦🏻‍♂️ - Middle Tennessee - First Year Beekeeper 14 days ago, I did my first mite wash on one of my two hives. “Front hive” had a mite load of approximately 2.5%. Due to recent and forecasted weather temps I asked some questions about what to use for treatment. Check my last post for those suggestions and more info. On 7/5, I treated with 25g apiguard based on the manufacturer recommendation (1/2 treatment due to weather temps 80f+). I also did a wash of my other hive “”

“MB, CA. Daytime high today was 49C with the humidity. Low tonight is 27C. Any suggestions for my queenless hive? Timeline reads my new queen should be emerging in the next week. We're in for extreme heat for the next few weeks. I'll have tonde an inspection by July 28 and look for eggs. What are the chances the new queen will be able to mate in this heat? submitted by /u/NopeBoatAfloat [link] [comments]”

“Date: 12 July 2026 Time: 8-11am Temp: 77-93 Location: Denver Colorado Queen: yes, not marked Queen cells: yes, no larvae not capped? Harvest: yes 22 super frames Temperament: calm to feisty Stings: yes, 5, face, neck, head First year bee keeper and this was my first solo on the hive. This is not my hive, it is a friends hive but will soon be mine and I have plans after today. The mentor wants to split and after today I agree. But for my hive I want some big changes to do things as what I see as”

“This hive is located in Eastern WA, this is our family members hive but I’m also a beekeeper so I’m posting on their behalf. They opened up their hive to remove the mite treatment and do a regular hive check and could not find any sign of an active queen, no eggs, no larvae, no capped brood, no queen cells and no drone brood. We went over to help inspect and confirmed there is no brood of any kind, both the top and bottom deeps are honey. We haven’t encountered this before so we wanted to see wh”

“Hello, I am a first year beekeeper in the Northeast US and just conducted my first varroa mite check (7/12). I had a cup of roughly 200 bees that I conducted an alcohol wash test on. (I know this is slightly lower than the standard 300 but I was a bit flustered after collecting the sample). The bees were on an outer frame from the bottom of two brood boxes. It was about 50/50 larvae cells and honey reserves. Many of the larvae were open cells. I see what I think are 2 mites after filtering out t”

“This is a serious question sorry if it's dumb but those little holes in the hive are they little homes or is it storage ? submitted by /u/Pristine_Release_402 [link] [comments]”

“I've had this hive since May this year and it's now winter here in Melbourne Australia. This hive was weak when I got it, checked it today after some sugar feeding over last two weeks. Using chatgpt it says it can't find any brooding cells. I can't find a queen either. Is this hive dead? submitted by /u/Slugordrug [link] [comments]”