Here’s what you need to know about the Varroa mite

Photo: Anete Lusina (Pexels) - Bee populations worldwide have been collapsing under attack from parasitic Varroa mites. Now, these mites have reached Australia. Professor Sasha Mikheyev from The Australian National University (ANU) helps unpack the buzz on the outbreak. What are Varroa mites?. The Varroa mite is a tiny parasitic arthropod that lives inside bee colonies and feeds off honey bee larvae and adult honey bees. Varroa mites were originally found in the eastern honey bee, which lives in Asia. In the late 19th or early 20th century western honey bees, which are used for beekeeping, were introduced to Asia, allowing the mite to shift to them.