A short video showing how to do a sugar shake on your bees to test for varroa mite levels. Powdered sugar treatment for Varroa mites work by coating the bees in sugar so mites cannot grip onto their bodies.
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Mites per 300 bees Colony.
Varroa mite sugar test. In beekeeping literature there are several methods to test for varroa mites and. Alcohol Wash vs Sugar Dusting method It is the time of the year to determine varroa mite levels in the hive. Varroa mites have little barbed feet that hook into.
It is a chemical free way to manage mites. If the mite percentage is over 2 do not breed. Youll need between one and two scoops of powdered sugar a little more than one tablespoon is all you need.
So whats a tender-hearted beekeeper to do. In a nutshell the tiny Varroa destructor mite kills bees. Mites visible on adults indicate extremely high levels of infestation.
The point is to coat each bee with enough powdered sugar to cover them and to knock off any varroa mites. Before we get into the how-tos of the sugar roll lets discuss why mite counts are so important. Not just a bee here and there but entire colonies in a short period of time.
It is important that you get a frame with open brood as adult varroa mites like young bees. If there is brood in the colony when you sample you should double this number to factor in the amount of mites in worker brood. Sugar Roll method for counting Varroa Mites as suggested by.
I have read elsewhere I dont think it is in the Marla Spivak article in the Dec 2010 issue of ABJ that in the spring an acceptable threshold is 3 mites per 300 bees and in the fall 10 mites. 3 mites or less if there is brood and 6 mites or less if there is no brood this should be preferentially be used for breeding. Count and record the number of mites in the tub.
The one bee you do not want to test is your queen so do your very best to find her first. The next task involves scooping up some bees from the brood nest and while blocking the open end of the jar with one hand giving it a shake to help dislodge any varroa mites. It is suggested that you do not treat for Varroa in these colonies however the decision is yours.
Sugar roll test for Varroa mites T he best way to test your colony for mites is to use the Powdered Sugar Roll Test developed at the University of Minnesota. Sugar shaker test to determine Varroa levels in a colony. Try a quick and easy powdered sugar roll test.
If youve looked and looked and just cant find her then pick two brood frames and make absolutely sure the queen is not on either of them. It only gets part of the mites and none under the cappings so it must be repeated often. I want to know the mite level to understand the severity of the infestation to determine the frequency of how often I should be treating the hive once I pull the supers out for harvesting.
If you know how many bees were in your sample you can estimate the number of mites per 100 bees. Make sure that you are clear on what varroa mites look like. FYI below is the table which converts of mites per sugar roll test to age colony infestation.
The article at this link indicates the sugar shake is about 90 as effective as the alcohol wash at recovering varroa mites. Varroa mites transmit viruses weaken both the individual bees and the entire. This is consistent with our findings.
If the colonys Varroa mite percentage is 2 or less ie. Here the speck that is pointed out is a varroa mite. If you are treating bees in a hive the bees only get a light dusting and they.
Do not collect the bees for the test from the inner cover or a honey frame or from the beard hanging on the. The sugar shake test dislodges a greater number of mites because you use more sugar per bee and you shake until they drop off. To make a sugar roll jar you will need a few supplies.
Effective and easy this method involves making or buying a varroa mite test jar and adding around three tablespoons of icing sugar to it. You can get these supplies at a home improvement store and the grocery store. A magnifying glass can be useful to see the mites as they are quite small.
Varroa mites tend to latch onto nurse bees around the brood so these are the bees you want to test. Parasitic Varroa mites can infest honey bee colonies and cause viruses weak and malformed bees and colony collapse. Varroa mites on workers.
After you count the bees that fall. Beekeepers are encouraged to test their own hives for varroa using the simple sugar shake or roll test. Container to shake bees into 4.
This test is more involved and more accurate. By using the sugar shake method to test. A sugar roll test is a simple way to monitor your varroa mite loads without killing a lot of bees.
It is easy and fast and only a few items are needed. After you count the bees that fall onto the plate divide that num. Find the brood nest and a frame with open brood.
Therefore a beekeeper could choose to use ONLY the sugar shake method and simply divide the mite count by 90 to get a good idea of what the mite count would have been with the alcohol wash method. Container of water Inspect the colony. Add some water to the tub dissolving the sugar so that you can see the mites.
It is important to note that the Powdered Sugar Roll Test is not the same as dusting for mites and then counting bodies on the bottom board. But powdered sugar is found to be an effective mite control if done on a regular weekly schedule. The similarly sized speck to the left however is not.
When varroa mites are dusted with pure icing sugar the fine granules stick to their feet and they can no longer grip the surface they are clinging to.
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