Rob :
 
At 11:15 AM 7/14/97 -0600, you wrote:
>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 could be Varroa mites.  Tracheal mites are too small to see without
magnification and nearly transparent.  Some generalist mites drift into
colonies from the surrounding soil and feed on the bottom board litter. Your
best bet is to take a sample and show it to your local extension apiarist.
Being able to recognize Varroa is important for anyone keeping bees.
 
>They ran fast when I went to kill them. How fast
>are TM or VM?
 
Varroa runs very fast, tracheal mites do not.
 
>The hives are strong and I just took out the Apistan
>Strips after seven weeks. Any thoughts or help will be appreciated.
 
Varroa can drift into clean colonies on stray workers or drones from
surrounding infested colonies.  You should learn how to sample for Varroa
from the extension apiarist in your area.  Sampling will enable you to
decide if you have Varroa, and if so, how high are the levels.
 
Adony