Varroa drop in February

[Monbees]

I have noticed some varroa drop on the inspection boards of two of my three hives, approx 12 on each board. Should l treat before brooding starts in earnest?
I treated with apilife var in autumn and trickled OS mid December. l do not have the equipment for OS vaping.

 

[The Poot]

I have noticed some varroa drop on the inspection boards of two of my three hives, approx 12 on each board. Should l treat before brooding starts in earnest?
I treated with apilife var in autumn and trickled OS mid December. l do not have the equipment for OS vaping.

How long had the boards been in?

 

[B+.]

I have noticed some varroa drop on the inspection boards of two of my three hives, approx 12 on each board. Should l treat before brooding starts in earnest?
I treated with apilife var in autumn and trickled OS mid December. l do not have the equipment for OS vaping.

To be honest, I think your concern is a little premature.
The purpose of natural mite drop is to give you an initial estimate of the infestation. It is best done once colonies have broken cluster but before large areas of sealed brood are present. What's your weather been like there? Over here in Beds, we had sub-zero temperature all last week. The temperature is only now consistently above zero. This means the colonies would have been in tight cluster last week so your data is unreliable. If you repeat the test now that it's a little warmer, you should have more reliable information.
You should sample each week for 3 weeks, then divide the number of red adult mites seen (not the immature translucent/white mites as these are non-reproducing mites) by the number of days - so you have an average mite fall per day.

 

[Monbees]

How long had the boards been in?

Most of the winter, although l cleaned them off most days. The varroa only appeared on the board in the last week. The temp has been above freezing only for the last two days.

 

[Monbees]

Most of the winter, although l cleaned them off most days. The varroa only appeared on the board in the last week. The temp has been above freezing only for the last two days.

I've been doing some research on BK forum and found this reply from Finman in response to a similar query four years ago.

'But it takes two weeks, when trickling or gasifying is at its best.
Lots of dead mites drop into empty cells, and you may get huge dropping after 2 months when mites died. Bees clean the cells when weathers become warm'.

 

[B+.]

I've been doing some research on BK forum and found this reply from Finman in response to a similar query four years ago.

'But it takes two weeks, when trickling or gasifying is at its best.
Lots of dead mites drop into empty cells, and you may get huge dropping after 2 months when mites died. Bees clean the cells when weathers become warm'.

I think Finman was clutching at straws there. You can't rely on natural mite drop once the varroa start reproducing in sealed cells. 2 months is far too long.

 

[The Poot]

Most of the winter, although l cleaned them off most days. The varroa only appeared on the board in the last week. The temp has been above freezing only for the last two days.

I’m probably not experienced enough to give you the best advice...but
I would put the board in again for 48/72 hours and see what natural drop there is.
The best remedy if you are then worried, would be vaping.Can you contact your local association and get access to the equipment?

I’m in exactly the same situation with one colony and will vape to try to get on top of the issue before brood rearing starts in earnest.
I don’t know if any other remedies are suitable for this time of year.
Good luck, please let me know how you get on.

 

[Monbees]

I’m probably not experienced enough to give you the best advice...but
I would put the board in again for 48/72 hours and see what natural drop there is.
The best remedy if you are then worried, would be vaping.Can you contact your local association and get access to the equipment?

I’m in exactly the same situation with one colony and will vape to try to get on top of the issue before brood rearing starts in earnest.

I've just put the boards back in and will check in 48 hours - good advice. I will pm you.

 

[B+.]

I've just put the boards back in and will check in 48 hours - good advice. I will pm you.

I usually change the board every 7 days and monitor for 3 weeks. Much longer than that and there starts to be too much sealed brood to make it reliable information. Much less and the mites/day count doesn't mean very much (i.e. there is too little dispersion).
7 days is about as long as I'd go before changing the board because, once they break cluster, you'll see increasing amounts of wax cappings, poop, varroa, etc on the board.

 

[Monbees]

I usually change the board every 7 days and monitor for 3 weeks. Much longer than that and there starts to be too much sealed brood to make it reliable information. Much less and the mites/day count doesn't mean very much (i.e. there is too little dispersion).
7 days is about as long as I'd go before changing the board because, once they break cluster, you'll see increasing amounts of wax cappings, poop, varroa, etc on the board.

Thank you B+, l will therefore leave the boards in for 7 days.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Monitoring boards have a bit of a questionable reputation in certain quarters because the results may not be statistically significant but for many of us, it's all we have to assess what's happening inside the hive. If you think, after viewing the board, that something is not right, you can always give the colony a OA-based vape. This will kill the so-called phoretic mites and tell you if you had a problem. If you have brood, the results of the initial vape will guide you as to whether you need to do more vaping or not. With brood and a mite infestation, the recommendation is three or four vapes at 5 day intervals.

Hope that helps.

CVB

 

[beeno]

I thought I had a massive varroa load years ago. One long line about 27 mites if I recall correctly. It turned out it was the first frame of the spring, warm way just inside the entrance. I removed it - IPM.

 

[beeno]

You should sample each week for 3 weeks, then divide the number of red adult mites seen (not the immature translucent/white mites as these are non-reproducing mites) by the number of days - so you have an average mite fall per day.

I read a study for a different reason, but they said that in the lab they had found that immature varroa matured, mated with their son and reproduced daughters...

 

[B+.]

I read a study for a different reason, but they said that in the lab they had found that immature varroa matured, mated with their son and reproduced daughters...

I'm not sure where you read that.
Varroa females do mate with their brothers but they have to mature in the cell, otherwise they die.
They can do things in a lab that don't happen in the hive so be careful about what you take as "normal"

 

[North End Bees]

I read a study for a different reason, but they said that in the lab they had found that immature varroa matured, mated with their son and reproduced daughters...

They have to mate before they have their son

 

[beeno]

They have to mate before they have their son

Arrhenotokous parthenogenesis apparently. The same as laying workers and unmated queens.

 

[beeno]

I'm not sure where you read that.
Varroa females do mate with their brothers but they have to mature in the cell, otherwise they die.
They can do things in a lab that don't happen in the hive so be careful about what you take as "normal"

I guess the next thing is to check it out in an observation hive?

 

[B+.]

I guess the next thing is to check it out in an observation hive?

Go right ahead. You're welcome to try.

 

[North End Bees]

Arrhenotokous parthenogenesis apparently. The same as laying workers and unmated queens.

I knew bees could do this (and other hymenoptera) but didn't know it was the case with varroa. Learn something new every day!

Still, the immature female would have to quickly jump into another cell to mature. Once she's on the inspection tray, that's her lot.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Arrhenotokous parthenogenesis apparently. The same as laying workers and unmated queens.

I have no idea how you find these things Beeno but this article is quite interesting Reproductive parameters of female Varroa destructor and the impact of mating in worker brood of Apis mellifera
The implication is that the anywhere between the 5 to 20% of mites not in brood cells that are infertile are still capable of reproduction