![Just recieved a 2nd shipment of 10k Italian bees. [3005x1724 - 669KB]](https://pic8.co/sh/M9p1iY.jpg){kind=link}
... varroa mites didn't come from the equipment. wtf?
it came from your bees. varroa requires honeybee brood to reproduce. you didn't do your job of testing and treating. don't blame wherever you got your equipment, that's fucking stupid.
if you have bees, you have mites. you need to test and treat for them to keep their populations in check.
So despite having no mites in the Fall, and the apiary we were supplied by losing 90% of their bees over winter, it wasn't contaminated gear.
Good to know.
it virtually couldn't have been unless you also received bees with the equipment, or frames of brood with the equipment.
if it was just frames and hive bodies, it is impossible for that to be the source of the mites.
Then it's a mighty strange coincidence.
In any case, we burned the hive and any gear from the infected apiary.
We're starting a fresh colony from a clean nuc next year.
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