The main flight period extends from early spring to autumn, but workers may embark on cleansing and foraging flights on suitably mild days throughout the winter and early spring. Swarms can occur at any time from spring to autumn, but are most prevalent during the late spring and early summer. Mating flights periodically take place during the main period ofcolony activity.
Parasites: There are no records of parasitoid or cleptoparasitic Hymenoptera attacking this species. However, three arthropods pests should be mentioned, and I am grateful to E. Milner who kindly supplied the following details. The mite Acarapis woodi infests the traceae from the first pair of thoracic spiracles of adult bees. It enters the tracheae during the first nine days after the bee has emerged from its pupa and appears to feed on haemolymph, leaving wounds open to infection. It probably shortens the life of the bee, and has been implicated in "Isle of Wight disease". Another mite, Varroa destructor, is mainly a pest of A. cerana, but when transferred to introduced A. mellifera in the Far East it became a deadly infestation. It has now spread to various parts of the world (by dispatching infected bees to these countries) and at present there is no totally effective treatment. Eggs are laid in brood cells, causing deformities in the young bees, and can destroy a colony in about five years. A. cerana has developed the habit of grooming so that the mite causes it no serious trouble. Finally, the minute dipteron Braula coeca, which is specific to honeybees, lays its eggs in the cappings of honeycells (not in brood cells). As it feeds the larva excavates a tunnel, disfiguring the cappings. The adult infests the bodies of worker bees, and especially queens, usually resting between the propodeum and the first gastral tergite. It feeds by taking food from the mouth parts of the host.