BUMBLEBEE MITES - PARASITES

I'd be lying if I said that the images that I took of this little Bumblebee today didn't shock and upset me.  I'd never seen anything like this before on all the numerous Bumblebees and other kinds of pollinators that regularly visit my garden.  Call me soft if you will, but callous I am not.  My first instinct was, you may laugh, to kill the bee to put it out of its misery but, thankfully, I did not.  On investigation on the internet, it would seem that mites don't necessarily cause harm to the Bumblebees.  That's as may be, but I cannot see that they do it any good.  Anyway, this little Bumblebee seemed happy enough flying around my strawberry flowers and when it got sick of being the subject of my lens, flew away without any effort at all.



Bumblebee infested with mites

Apparently

Mites can have mites

Serves 'em right!

VJ

Bumblebee infested with mites



About Bumblebee mites (Bumblebee Conservation Trust link)