Varroa destructor, the introduced parasite of European honey bees associated with massivecolony deaths, spreads readily through populations of honey bee colonies, both managedcolonies living crowded together in apiaries and wild colonies living widely dispersed in natural settings. Mites are hypothesized to spread between most managed colonies via phoretically riding forager bees when they engage in robbing colonies or they drift between hives.However, widely spaced wild colonies show Varroa infestation despite limited opportunitiesfor robbing and little or no drifting of bees between colonies. Both wild and managed colonies may also exchange mites via another mechanism that has received remarkably littleattention or study: floral transmission. The present study tested the ability of mites to infestforagers at feeders or flowers. We show that Varroa destructor mites are highly capable ofphoretically infesting foraging honey bees, detail the mechanisms and maneuvers by whichthey do so, and describe mite behaviors post-infestation