Science Visualized Animals

This honeybee parasite may be more of a fat stealer than a bloodsucker

New looks at a hive’s nightmare challenge a decades-long assumption about Varroa destructor

honeybee with a Varroa destructor mite

A MITE MISUNDERSTOOD  Long a scourge of honeybees, Varroa destructor mites may have been misunderstood for decades. It’s not bee “blood” they’re after, a study finds.

UMD, USDA, PNAS

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Tests with fake bee larvae reveal that a “vampire” mite attacking honeybees may not be so much a bloodsucker as a fat slurper.