During the summer and fall, mite infested hives may appear strong and have many bees. However, they collapse in the late winter or early spring because of the shortened life-span of infested bees and too few young bees ready to replace them at this time. During the winter, a heavily infested colony may contain only a handful of bees and a queen, even though there is lots of honey. Acarine disease could persist in the colony for years causing little damage, but combined with other diseases or unfavorable conditions, the disease increases the mortality of colonies.
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