I'm quite curious about this phenomenon, which I also observe.  Jose, did you do anything to measure drift?  Some studies suggest that drift of bees between hives sometimes occurs at surprisingly high rates.


I have been pondering this a bit myself,  We know  that SHB congregate in hives that are already weakening.  IE  its easy to watch them expand quickly in hives that they are successful.   And since we know they pupate outside the hive,  they have a choice as to where they go.

Is it possible that mites also can do this?   Having trapped mites and watch them crawl,  moving from hive to hive on a pallet would be no big deal.  It it possible though that they can also somehow determine which bee to ride,  to another hive  or at the least which hive to get off into to breed???

We also know that some pheromones are attractants to mites,  so it seems possible they may be picking and choosing more than we think?  Maybe they jump off on a flower and wait for the next bee?   
They are a member of the tick family and ticks do that,  they climb a plant and wait for something to come by.  While in the Ozarks I found many pieces of grass that were literally covered with them,  just waiting for a host.  Maybe Mites use a bit of the same concepts??



Charles

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