Tracheal mite
Bailey showed it was not Isle of Wight disease.
Acarapis woodi lives in the breathing tubes of the honey bee. Honey Bee Tracheal Mite is the UF/IFAS Featured Creatures page. Denmark, Cromroy, and Sanford. Rennie described it in 1921 from bees on the Isle of Wight and tied it to that collapse. Bailey showed in 1964 that the mite was not the cause. This paper still takes the mite seriously when other stress is already on the box. Florida found it in October 1984. tracheal mite dissection is how you open the collar. This page is what you are looking for.
It was later shown that the tracheal mite was not the cause of the Isle of Wight disease.
Florida, October 1984
the Honey Bee Tracheal Mite paper: first United States find was Weslaco, Texas, July 1984. New Iberia, Louisiana, August. Florida, North Dakota, South Dakota, New York, and Nebraska in October. Except Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and Canada, the mite has been found wherever honey bees are found, on Delfinado 1963 as this paper cites it. The host is probably the honey bee only.
Females run 140 to 175 microns. Males 125 to 136. That is not a porch ID. The gravid female crawls to the tip of a hair and catches a young bee. Adults sometimes sit on the outside of the bee. Heavy loads darken the trachea. Healthy tubes stay clear to white under the microscope. A dissecting microscope to see the tubes after you peel collars. Get this. Extra-fine forceps for that peel. Get this. The method is tracheal mite dissection.
Not a virus taxi, on this paper
the Honey Bee Tracheal Mite paper: the mites puncture the tracheal wall of young bees and feed in the hemolymph. They do not appear to transmit diseases while they do that. Infested bees may look normal until they die, or they crawl, fail to fly, and carry disjointed wings. British stock on Bailey 1965 shows more resistance than some North American strains. American bees are somewhat less resistant than British bees, on this page.
The management section names Acarol, menthol, and Folbex Forte as tests in Europe and Mexico, and formic acid under the name Apicure as a later approval. That paragraph is dated. This page does not sell a bottle from a 1980s decision. Read the current label. the year board is the Central Florida month job. Varroa is the mite on the outside of the bee. viruses is the virus list Varroa vectors. Do not mix those jobs because both animals are mites.
Did tracheal mites sink the Isle of Wight?
No. The Honey Bee Tracheal Mite paper cites Bailey 1964: the mite was not the cause of that disease. Rennie described the animal from those bees. The myth outran the mite.
Can I see it without opening a bee?
Not reliably. This paper wants the trachea. Darkened tubes are the heavy-load hint. Clear tubes are the healthy ones. Crawl-outs on the porch are not an ID.
Sources
- Honey Bee Tracheal Mite. Denmark, Cromroy, and Sanford. Florida October 1984. Morse five percent.
- How to Dissect Honey Bees to Detect Tracheal Mites. The collar peel. Healthy tubes stay clear.
- Florida Beekeeping Management Calendar. The month job. Do not copy a 1980s product list onto it.