>
> >it would seem logical to me that some times mites are on bees and
> sometimes not. lots of grafting with a magnifying glass and light informs
> me that the mites do move around quite a bit off the bees and over the face
> of a comb and quite frequently.
>
Is it possible the mites are only moving around without a bee when you've
disturbed the hive BECAUSE you have disturbed the hive?

The only time I've seen mites crawling on comb is when a) the hive is so
heavily infested the mites can't find a ride, and b) when I disturb capped
cells late in the cycle (such as drones) and a few mites spill out in a
panic. I didn't consider either to be the "normal" habits of the mite.

But I've probably seen considerably less instances where it could happen
than some other contributors on here.

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