Varroa destructor

"Nobody wanted to interrupt you in the first place, Father," Tabletina muttered.

I barely heard her, excited by my findings.

"The Paleness had anemia-like symptoms, affected only pupae or bees without the thick skin gene… I *should've* put it together earlier that it was some sort of blood-sucking parasite! These mites were sucking the blood and nutrition out of their hosts!"

I looked at Ambrosia.

"When I heard about Worriesgone's dream, it reminded me about mosquitoes, and they reminded me about lice and other parasites. Then, I realized that Paleness could be a parasite infestation as well."

"I feared it might be some gut worm—because I have no idea how to deal with *that*—but the sick people didn't have any digestion problems, and Worriesgone described being pricked, so I hoped for the easier option. An option we can try to drown, at least!"