I went out to the two top bar hives today to do some final preps before the honey bees get here and I find a Blue Orchard Bee (well, I assume its a BOB) in one. It was sitting on the bottom screen very lethargic. We had a major cold snap here the last couple of days, down in the low 30s, which may explain the behavior. Then I open up the other hive, and there is one in there too! I thought this was very strange. I don't know if they were trapped in there or what. Or if something attracted them? I did dip these hives in copper naphthenate, which I now regret, but that was over three weeks ago. I hope it was just the cold affecting them.

I took them in the garage to get a good look at them and take some pictures. I noticed under a 10x loupe that they are both covered in mites. I assume Krombein's Hairy-Footed Mite, Chaetodactylus krombeini, as they have very large legs and claws.

In the warmth of the garage, one came around and started crawling around, the other is barely moving a leg. It's supposed to get warmer here tomorrow so I'll release the one, the other will go in the insect collection. Maybe I can show it my nice BOB box and it will lay some eggs in there.  At least I know they are around. Pic show one of them under the loupe, see the mites?