I am in Northern Rivers district of New South Wales Australia.
Varroa mite arrived in the area last year. Both of my hives died out.
3 days ago a swarm appeared (it is autumn here!) and moved into one of my hives.
They immediately started dying with what looks like a type of paralysis.
Any ideas?
Tom
Anybody using insecticides on flowering plants in the vicinity? 
Thanks for the reply Dawn_SD, I don’t know, I live in a very suburban area with patches of council owned bush around.
Another photo- they are dying off in mass today.
Tom,
It’s likely from a high mite load colony. I’ve seen many such cases down here in the Hawkesbury. It can continue even with treatment until the mite parasitised bees die off. Although we don’t have DWV yet, heavy mite loads really hit the girls hard.
Mike
Hi Mike, thanks for the info. Do you mean deformed wing virus locally or not in Australia yet?
So far, we don’t have DWV vectored by mites in Australia. DWV exists in all flying insects including ants. Its extremely unlikely to jump species through normal means, so the most likely way we’ll get it in Australia is through imported bees, semen, queens or mites.
If one mite feeds on an infected bee, then feeds on another bee, the beginning of the exponential spread is triggered. The longer that trigger is not squeezed, the better. We have enough of a challenge with the combination of varroa and SHB.
Mike
Classic photo of a hive being robbed out…note the “robbing splatter” (speckles of propolis, wax, honey) directly above the the entrance/dead bees.
