I went to the visit the bees at my out-apiary this morning. I took the lids off the hives but left the brood area alone (except for Hive F) because the air temperature was cool. Everything was finished by 0630.

A side effect of looking at hives in the early morning is that all their flying bees are still in the hive. These are the bees which are most likely to defend the colony. As a result the bees seemed noticeably more angry when I opened the hives.

All the hives have plenty of space, with the possible exception of E.

When we look at a hive we usually only see the bees. Look closer and we see a host of other organisms so the hive starts to look more like an ecosystem. Other writers have described it as an organism in which the bees are just the mobile part. Both views are compatible, I think.

The most visible organism in the hive is the honey bee - Queen, Workers and Drones. Living in close proximity are Varroa mites and sometimes other tracheal mites. Each bee is host to a number of viruses. Deformed Wing Virus seems to be endemic. There more viruses than I can (or want to) list here.

Parasites rely on another organism for aspects of their feeding and/or reproduction. Whilst parasitism is a complex subject, the relationship between Western Honey Bees and Varroa mites is relatively simple. The mites live entirely with and on the bees. Food, reproduction and transport is all provided by bees. In this case, if the host dies so does the parasite.