- Joined
- Dec 21, 2011
- Messages
- 2,332
- Reaction score
- 106
- Location
- South London
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 10
This is a rather interesting piece of work by Dr Peter Teal in the US.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/jul09/mites0709.htm?pf=1
Essentially he's found some compounds that attract and repel the mites.
His plan is to make products that attract the mites onto sticky boards. He's doing the same thing for SMB.
He talks about it here, the the audio is very bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTICrzF0UWk
It's very encouraging that there are some very good lines of research around genetic and lure treatments that hopefully in future years will allow us to manage the hives with fewer treatments.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/jul09/mites0709.htm?pf=1
Essentially he's found some compounds that attract and repel the mites.
Teal is testing a bait-and-kill approach using sticky boards dosed with natural chemical attractants, called “semiochemicals.”
[..]
In nature, Varroa mites rely on the semiochemicals to locate—and then feed on the bloodlike hemolymph of—both adult bees and their brood, weakening or killing them.
His plan is to make products that attract the mites onto sticky boards. He's doing the same thing for SMB.
He talks about it here, the the audio is very bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTICrzF0UWk
It's very encouraging that there are some very good lines of research around genetic and lure treatments that hopefully in future years will allow us to manage the hives with fewer treatments.