This maybe a the wrong thing to do. Picking up swarms. I have been keeping bees for 14 years and this is one practice I have STOPED. Let the mites move on there own. I will not interduce tham in my hives>>> Paul -----Original Message----- From: Paul Cronshaw, D.C. <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thursday, November 06, 1997 09:29 Subject: Swarms carry Mites >Adrian Wenner wrote: > ><< I live in Santa Barbara also and caught a swarm in one of my backyard >swarm hives. I anesthetized the bees and counted them, as well as the >varroa mites. The bees numbered only 2000 (quite a small swarm), with 56 >mites among them.>> > >This would demonstrate that swarms can carry mites which will then >re-establish them in the new hive. > >It makes sense therefore to put an apistan strip into a newly established hive. > > > > >Paul Cronshaw, D.C. >Cyberchiro and Hobbyist Beekeeper >Santa Barbara, CA USA >