A little corner by the garage

The extra is of a small bumblebee with mites on its back. I've done a bit of research and it appears that bumblebee mites, unlike varroa mites which attack honeybees, are not detrimental to the bumblebees. They feed on wax and detritus from the bee's nest and when one nest is cleared they hitch a lift on a passing bumblebee to the next nest. When a bumblebee gets too many attached to it then it can become very irritated and handicapped by them. I did read a method of helping bumblebees to rid themselves of these mites by dipping them in water. First catch your bumblebee!

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