Now I know we talked about a non-furry, mammal yesterday (well I guess that isn’t entirely true since the Jumping Spider was pretty furry) but I wanted to continue that trend to today’s fact as well. We are going to learn about another eight legged animal that is microscopic in size. Yes, I am sure you have read the title so there is really no suspense here. We are going to learn about Bee Mites today. Although they are small, they have been known to cause quite a bit of damage, which I will explain in a bit.
Bee Mites are a type of parasite that depends upon the Honey Bee for survival. Now I know the majority of my readers don’t like parasites for some reason so I won’t go into great details about their blood sucking ways. Let’s just say that the Bee Mites will attach to the poor Honey Bee and begin feeding on their hemolymph (basically their blood). At the same time these mites could transfer viruses such as Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) to the bee. I am assuming you are starting to see how these mites may cause a lot of damage so I guess I will talk about it here. A serious Bee Mite infestation could potentially cause an entire bee colony to collapse. This usually occurs between late autumn to early spring (some would call that winter!). Apparently it was Bee Mites that caused numerous bee colonies to collapse in North America. Check out this CTV Article explaining the research. Okay, so we know they can hurt our honey supplies but what else is there to know about these tiny Bee Mites?
Well, they are indeed tiny as they are usually only 1-1.8 mm (0.039 – 0.07″) long. To us they would just look like a tiny black dot that is moving. In reality they are actually a reddish-brown parasite with 8 legs that can destroy Honey Bee populations. I guess this is a perfect example how things are not always what they seem. Although, Bee Mites can only reproduce in a Honey Bee colony they have also been found on other insects such as Bumble Bees, Scarab Beetles and the Flower-Fly. So do we need to worry about these mites destroying these populations as well? Probably not since it is assumed the Bee Mites found on these insects are simply hitching a ride. Let this be a reminder to you that picking up hitch-hikers is dangerous!
Even I have had enough about parasites for today so I think I will end the Wild Fact here. I hope you enjoyed our little lesson on Bee Mites and why you should never pick up strange hitch-hikers, even if they do just look like a black dot.
Have a great day folks!
