CLOSED: I think this Bombus terrestris is infected with parasites..

I found it yesterday on the floor of my father's veranda and it looked exhausted. One of the cats showed too much interest in it so I brought it to a safe place and later on brought it back home with me.
I had read on Wikipedia that young queens, which I think mine is, it's very huge at least 2 cm, do hibernate in the winter looking for a safe place when the cold weather sets in. I was planning to help it with that, but when I downloaded my pictures I saw something frightening I hadn't seen with the bare eyes. It looks like it has parasites and I wonder what these could be. Perhaps there's something I can do to help it getting rid of ? I think it's so gruesome! For a moment I thought it was getting more lively after I had put it in the sun this midday and I brought it some late Tropaeolum flowers for in case it would need some nectar to gain back its forces, but it didn't show interest.
The parasites are visible in its neck area

Here its lifting one of its legs and I think I also see a parasite on the inside of the knee joint;

In this heavily cropped picture I think I see two legs sticking out of one of the parasites..

parasitic mites - feeding in the weak areas where its chitin armor is the weakest - the area that keep it moving inside its stiff armor. You can't do anything much for it - if you tried to get all the mites off it could stressen the bee - it's Mother Nature's cruel side. Also killing it would prevent the mites from getting on a flower and infect another bee. That's how mites travel from one bee to another - by waiting on a flower for their host to land on it.

Thanks Malus! I think it would be the wisest thing to euthanise it like you suggest, not only to prevent the mites to parasite other bees but also for the bee's sake.
I wish I knew a way to give it an instant painless death, I hate the idea to smash it, brr..

A couple of years ago I found a bumblebee struggling with many mites on it, I got a thin stick and poked at it gently as the mites came to the surface and they went off the bee. It took a long time, and when I had got all I could with maybe one or two left I put the bee on a flower. It sat there for some time, had a wash, then eventually flew. I saw it happily going around the flowers.

I found later there is an easier way, throw the bee in a cup of water and the mites will all jump off! The bee will not mind having a short dip, lol. I hope it's not too late, and I know how you hate to do this.

oh I'm so relieved with your reply that offers a better solution without having to kill it!
I have been scolding myself being a coward not being able to kill it and feeling guilty about that.
I rushed off immediately with a torch to the garden, it was still alive and gave it a dip into the water like you said.
I'm going to try to get some pictures of it to see if the mites are gone. It now in a tiny portable mini-greenhouse with old leaves near the heather to dry..
If that didn't work I'll try it the way you did.
Do you know what I could give it as a substitute for flower nectar, perhaps honey?

Thanks so much! ^_^

So pleased it's still alive! :) You could try honey for now until you can resurrect it, lol, if not I wonder if a sugar water would do the job for now (like they give to hummingbirds). B. terrestris has a short tongue and feeds on small flowers, I had a queen visiting fuchsia flowers under my window until the frost damaged them. I wonder if there's any small wild flowers still alive. They have to feed on something, but with colder weather may hibernate for a time, I'm not sure.

Geranium Rozannne! I have seen them feed on that, and mine has been in flower for months, I think there may still be some. But they are fussy about the flower, it seems it has to be at a certain stage. They are so heavy it's funny to watch the flower bend down when they land!

I was too slow with typing so missed your last post!
I'll try with some wild flowers I know are still blooming which are suited for its short tongue,I already gave it a few left Aster flowers too and some Erica flowers, I tried it earlier with some sugared water too but not yet with honey.

Oops missed it again, lol!
Sadly my Geranium Jolly Bee has stopped flowering, perhaps I can still find some Geranium robertianum.

Yes they are very heavy, that's why I didn't put it on the flowers because it doesn't has the strenght and tends to fall off, so I picked the flowers for it to have an easier access.

You might find with the very cold weather it won't need to feed now, I think they reappear in March. I would think temperature has something to do with their hibernation. Let me know how you go!

Never would had thought about dipping it briefly in water - maybe you can loosen the soil in an area and mulch it with some dead leaves for it? Not put it in the bottom but just partway through - give it enough air but protection from the cold. Maybe on warm day it will find a place of its own.

Yes, I will wallaby!

Success! It LOVES the honey!!! :-) I diluted it just a little with water to make it more liquid and it has eaten at lot! Looks more happy now! But I'm still not 100% sure it got rid of the mites, so I'll check that tomorrow in the daylight.

I know what you mean Malus, I have plenty of places in my garden that suits your description. But perhaps I could also leave it in the tiny greenhouse, it would certainly be very protected there.

That's wonderful! :)))))) Could it get out of the 'greenhouse' if it needed to? It may want to come and go as it pleases, lol, now you will have a spoilt bee. I wouldn't think a diet of honey would harm it, after all it's made by bees from flower nectar, but it still may want to visit flowers if it needs to.

After having saved it though I would be tempted to keep it safe!

It didn't work :-{ , it still has the mites, I repeated the same treatment by giving it a longer dip in the water, I emerged it completely under for about 3 seconds, and it's drying again near the heater. It was upset, poor thing! Problem now is that it became quite lively, probably after its copious honey-meal. So trying to get the mites off with a thin stick is impossible.
I must find a way to make it sit still..and the mites are so tiny hardly 1mm I think if not less!

now that it's so lively I'll keep the little greenhouse closed until I rid it of its mites, there's still plenty of air that goes in, Tomorrow should be a nice sunny day and I'll give it the option to fly out, that is when I have succeeded in my difficult task..

I typed in Google; 'sedate bees' and it came up with this;
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/73033.

So its possible with smoke but smoke of what?

I'll continue my search..

I had found out what kind of smoke beekeepers use to sedate bees temporarily, it can be anything organic from half decayed wood to pine needles. I tried out the smoke of Rosmarinus officinale, but was too afraid it would suffocate, although I saw one mite jumping off the bee.

I tried some times to take them off with a thin stick but didn’t manage., getting nervous with trembling hands, not ideal for doing such a delicate job.
I would be no good as a nurse, lol!




A big sigh of relieve…..
I was getting desperate,lol.

I was so lucky my friend who has nerves of steel, offered to do it, she held the bee gently but firm between two fingers and has been combing off all the mites.
She didn’t use a thin stick but made a comb of a piece of electricity wire, flattened out the fine copper threads into a comb and cut the ends evenly and then gently combed the bee. The mites were trying to run away in panic, trying to hide. It took a long time to get rid of them all, but now I believe its mite-free. I’ll check again after it has dried from another bath.

I have cleaned the little greenhouse, because of the mite I saw jumping, threw all its content in a bucket of water and gave it a treat with the garden hose.

Now the poor Queen is back in there with fresh material and a fresh dish of honey water. It looks exhausted and would be best left in peace to recover from the stress…

This is the tool she made and used;

and this is its temporarily home, I'll see when its fully recovered and there's sun tomorrow I'll give her the choice to stay or to go..

I imagine it would be the same as they use for honey bees. A smoke bellows is used, but I don't recal how the smoke is made, any type such as from burning wood maybe?

I hadn't tried the water dip myself, but read it on a bumblebee site here where they had done it with success. I also remember I used two sticks to tumble the bee about, I thought it would distress it but it was better than watch it die, it was covered in mites and could barely move. They hide in the hair around the head and often can't be seen, but mine had them on every part of it's body, even under the wings which was difficult to get to but I didn't damage the bee. The sun was shining so some would come to the surface, then I tumbled it, but still had to search all the nooks and crannies, lol. Maybe a good strong light or heat lamp would encourage the mites to come to the surface, then tumble them off!

Great news. this time I was slow typing, lol! What a lovely little home, she won't want ot leave that! :)

thanks for the support! ^_^

I think it's really free from mites now, I examined it with a magnifying glass and it's recovering, though looks a bit shaggy. I think its hairs are a bit sticky from the honey water but I guess it will clean itself, if not I'll have to give it a another bath tomorrow.

What a great thread!

Thanks Kniphofia!

The day after there was a bit of sun for a couple of hours in the afternoon and I've put the little greenhouse on top of a container hanging on my wall, took off the lid and gave it the option to fly off. But she didn't want so decided to stay.
I had to give it another wash as that morning she had tumbled into her honey plate, but this time I washed her with luke-warm water and a soft fluffy paintbrush, she didn't object, lol!

Since yesterday she seems to be vast asleep, I was a bit worried that she would have died but when I gently touched one of her legs it felt flexible, not stiff like it would be if she were dead. So I conclude that she has started her wintersleep. I'll keep her in her greenhouse in an unheathed room until February and move her then to my half-open garden shed where when she wakes can fly off and have a treat with the many specie crocus that will be blooming, easy access for short tongued bees!

Here she is in the sun on top of a mound of dry moss I have put in her greenhouse;

closer by;

Having a meal on the flowers of Fatsia japonica;

She certainly looks very happy, lol! If you are putting her inside it might be an idea to put the greenhouse near a window, so that she gets any sun and good daylight. They do go underneath moss to hibernate, I took pics of one coming out after having gone under, looking for a nesting place I think.

I will have to check my Fatsia, it mostly gets frozen before flowers open and we had a few hard frosts. :(

This is the Queen coming from under moss next to a Nectarine tree (non-producing!). It also went into a mole hole and out another exit. It was on 13th April, but I have pics of a B. terrestis from 7th March.

Lovely picture! The idea of putting her in an unheated room came after reflecting that they normally hibernate under the ground where I imagine the temperature must be cool but not too cold, perhaps something like 10°C like in caves? I originally thought of putting her in the garden shed where she would be protected from winds and rain, but then it can still get really cold in there when it freezes.
I also thought of putting her in the old nest of Bombus pratorum where all activity has stopped by now, but then there might be still new queens hibernating in there so perhaps not ideal.

I have a room which would be ideal like you suggest, it would get quite a lot of sun and plenty of light.

I haven't had frost yet in my garden, but I know there has been a couple of nights with frost on the country side.
The last days have been very mild with day t° ranging from 12 to 15° C.

a pic of a Bombus terrestris taken on the 28th of Febr. this year

How wonderful - what an effort! I hope she survives after all your care!

You're lucky not to have had frost, but where I am seems to always get about 4C lower than forecast for some reason. My Fatsia is semi-frozen, lol, some small lower sprays might be OK and are still not open, some are just pusing up their buds. If we don't get more frost for a few weeks they should flower, nights now are around 8C, today was 12C with sun! After getting 5-7C for several days with dark skies and drizzle, and some rain it feels like summer! Oh yes, we did have that temperature in July!

My thoughts of getting some sun were because when it is shining it will maybe help, as it would outside, to give the bee some sort of feeling it was in a natural surrounding. I also think if they don't go very far down in the ground, perhaps just under moss, it would warm them. When the time comes to re-awaken from it's hibernation it might be necessary to get sun and good light too.

It's a good job we have Hellebores and other early flowers for them! My early pic was when it landed on the window sill, and being black against white the camera doesn't respond well. I know it had an orange band near it's head but it doesn't show, this one has a very orange tail. The other has a nearly white tail, the continental version maybe which has been used in greenhouse pollination here but they escape, lol, I have many versions of this bee.

Thanks, I hope so too Galanthophile!

It's a beautiful bee wallaby! Now that some Continental ones have escaped they might cross with the British..
I wonder why they didn't use the British specie in the first place for pollination.

They probably already have crossed, lol, maybe that's why I'm getting so many variations in colour.

Hmm, good point, why didn't they use the British one! Maybe they are more diverse than they are telling us, as B. lucorum is a complex of at least 3 species as yet undetermined as separate species. It might be because of their behaviour, that is they don't mind being kept in a greenhouse, lol!