I noticed when checking my hives this weekend a tiny bee with deformed or almost nonexistent wings. I looked around for more with this condition but only saw the one. Is this something I should be concerned about? What would cause that and what should I be doing to prevent it?
I am in Georgia and the weather is still pretty nice. Both hives have healthy queens and some stores. I treated with Apigaurd back in August. I have also been using some Honey B Healthy to stimulate feeding. The numbers have reduced over the past month but I think it's enough bees to make it through the winter. As a newbie I suppose I won't really know until spring.
Varroa cause that. Other things might as well.
Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) is usually associated with high varroa counts. This year I did see a few minor cases of it on weaker hives without substantial varroa. We did have a horrible wet/cold spring which caused chalk brood in these hives as well.
I would not be too worried if you only saw one. Just keep an eye on it, and do a varroa check if you can.