> Last night I was looking at my hives and noticed what I thought were red
> spider mites on the outside of the hives.
> Are these red spider mites? Or do tracheal mites or Varrera Mites look
> like red spider mites?  They ran fast when I went to kill them. How fast
> are TM or VM? The hives are strong and I just took out the Apistan
> Strips after seven weeks. Any thoughts or help will be appreciated.
 
Tracheal mites are too small to see. Varroa are not so spidery looking.
They look more like ticks. They are flat, about the size of a pin head,
and have eight legs (all on one side). They do not move quickly.
Further, you're not likely to see them on the outside. Most of the time
you don't see them at all, unless you have a whole lot of them, and
then you might see them attached to the bees.
 
Conrad Sigona
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