Anyone counting mites out there?

[B+.]

Part of my selection routine involes 3 * 1 week varroa mite counts on untreated colonies at the start of the season (when the willow flowers). The total is then compared to a 30g sample of bees taken from the super in the first week of July.

I wondered how other people were finding the mite counts this year.

My worst colony had a total of 220 mites (47+59+114) but my best only had 19 (4+5+12). These were both from the same apiary.

 

[madasafish]

I did a test mid March. Worst weekly count was 22.

 

[B+.]

I did a test mid March. Worst weekly count was 22.

Untreated?
Wow...I'm impressed

oops...misread that...I thought that was total count for the 3 weeks. Still impressive though!

 

[Dishmop]

Anyone counting mites out there?

better than masterchef I suppose.

 

[B+.]

better than masterchef I suppose.

My youngest is more of a Great British Bake-off fan so we watch more baking programmes in my house
I was a little late in starting the process this year so I've just finished counting mites. The adults are quite easy to spot but the nymphs are a pain.

 

[madasafish]

Untreated?
Wow...I'm impressed

oops...misread that...I thought that was total count for the 3 weeks. Still impressive though!

I treat once a year with home made thymol mix as per a sticky here.. We appear to have summer brood breaks due to weather/flow conditions - this naturally hits mite numbers...

 

[B+.]

I treat once a year with home made thymol mix as per a sticky here.. We appear to have summer brood breaks due to weather/flow conditions - this naturally hits mite numbers...

Yeah. I can't treat because I'm selecting for varroa tolerance. Any treatment would affect my figures and mask the characteristics I'm looking for

 

[B+.]

My worst colony had a total of 220 mites (47+59+114) but my best only had 19 (4+5+12).

Duh! Who can't count? the low figure should be 21

 

[pargyle]

I count mites all the year round (on an almost daily basis) and I don't (or at least haven't had to so far) treat for varroa - my daily counts on all three hives are between 0 and 5 a day ... less than 25 each a week on average. The Long Deep hive is the biggest colony but it has had the lowest drop over the winter months and this week the drop has been almost zero - the two Paynes Polys have been pretty much similar in their drop pattern over the winter but the smaller one of these two colonies now has a slightly higher drop rate but nothing that I can get excited about.

I can't draw any conclusions from this and it's too early in the season to be doing sugar rolls or alcohol washes ... my quick look in the hives last week only showed a few drone cells so again, too early to be culling or checking in them for mites.

This is the third year without treatment - the highest drop was last August when my LDH was dropping around 40 a day for about 10 days - I nearly panicked at that stage and was about to treat but held my nerve and the following week it went down to it's usual 3-5 a day. Again, I draw no conclusions from this - they are just my observations.

My bees do not have DWV or any other diseases and appear healthy and thriving. There are peaks and troughs in the drop but I can't find or see any correlation between the p.eaks/trough and other factors (weather, temp, etc.)

 

[B+.]

I can't draw any conclusions from this

Excellent answer!
I think we look at our own data and get excited about individual colonies that do well. It is only when we aggregate that data and look at the results for a group of sister queens that there is any real meaning.

 

[beeno]

There are peaks and troughs in the drop but I can't find or see any correlation between the p.eaks/trough and other factors (weather, temp, etc.)

Hi pargyle,
Surely there must be correlation between the emergence of brood and varroa drop?

 

[pargyle]

Hi pargyle,
Surely there must be correlation between the emergence of brood and varroa drop?

Possibly ... but I don't inspect on a weekly basis .. I inspect when I think there is something I should be looking at so I don't really see the pattern of brood or the quantity of brood on the sort of regular basis that would give me the answer.

The varroa I see on my inspection board tend to be mainly adults ... so, if your suggestion is that an increased mite drop is the result of the bees clearing out the infant mortalities of mites that did not reach maturity in the cell then I don't think it is ...

Don't you just wish there was a way of installing a tiny mobile camera inside the hive to view bees at their level and in close up ?... A sort of bee sized 'Rock cam' like those used in the David Attenborough series ... that would be a challenge for a robotics post graduate to get their teeth into !