Most of us are getting pretty blasé about tracheal mites, since resistance has
been building in the bee populations, and in most areas of North America, TM
hasn't been causing huge losses lately.

HOWEVER: Something of note that I leaned at the AHPA conference was that queen
mating nucs with TM result in queens with TM.  Queens with TM don't las6t long.

Someone -- and I can't remember who -- mentioned doing a sampling of queens
reared in nucs where TM levels that were significant, and observed that
virtually all the queens from the infested nucs were infested with tracheal
mites.

The reason is simple: when the queen emerges in a mating nuc, she is often the
only bee in the hive anywhere near the preferred age for tracheal mites to
enter!

Although TM may not be a concern in production hives, in queen rearing the
levels MUST be well controlled.

FWIW.

allen
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