(Continuing from last blog) When honeybees come into contact with this pesticide, its components stick to their bodies and are carried throughout the hive. This must  typically be removed within 3 to 5 weeks because mites have a tendency to develop resistance to the pesticide. To prevent this resistance  from forming, we must use different pesticides with varying mechanisms of action in a flexible and rotating manner. However, since the mites’  survival is at stake, achieving complete eradication is extremely difficult.

Moreover, various viral diseases transmitted by these pests can  sometimes spread within the hive, so caution is always necessary. This mite did not originally exist in New Zealand, but it has invaded over  the past 10 years, and its route of entry remains unknown. It is said to have started with the Asian honeybee and spread to the European  honeybee through Siberia, but the details are still unclear.

This mite initially parasitizes adult bees, feeding on their body fluids. However, it eventually detaches from the adult bees and attaches to  the larvae inside the hive, where it begins laying eggs and reproducing. It tends to especially target drone larvae. Inside the brood cells,  the mites mate, and the male mites die, similar to male honeybees. After developing inside the brood cells, the newly matured  mites attach themselves to adult bees, emerging with them and continuing to feed on their body fluids. Once they are capable of laying eggs,  they detach and invade the brood cells of honeybee larvae, continuing this life cycle.

Therefore, this parasite spends its entire life within  the hive, with a female’s lifespan being around two months. Meanwhile, the honeybees, whose body fluids have been drained, suffer from  poor development and are susceptible to various mite-borne infections, making this parasite a natural enemy of honeybees and a constant  challenge for beekeepers every season.