Varroa EasyCheck

[melias]

Is it just me, or does this seem like a pointless product?
Is mite drop not a easier metric for infestation?

https://youtu.be/QxYE2LLTYAo

 

[Erichalfbee]

It’s you. Natural mite drop is not accurate at all and it would be really helpful if the NBU made people aware of its inadequacy when using the varroa calculator.
Sugar roll or alcohol wash are the way to go.
Better still if you have a vapouriser you can do an accelerated mite drop

 

[B+.]

Natural mite drop is not accurate at all and it would be really helpful if the NBU made people aware of its inadequacy when using the varroa calculator.

It's accurate enough at the start of the season in Feb/early March when there isn't much sealed brood (i.e. only phoretic mites and no reproducing varroa). The more sealed brood you have, the less reliable it becomes though

 

[pargyle]

Erichalfbee is right - inspection board alone is not a good indicator - can be wildly inaccurate. Also .. you really should only treat colonies that need treatment and unless you have a good idea of the infestation levels you are wasting treatments and time.

I do regular sugar rolls on my colonies alongside continually monitoring via the inspection board. I've done alcohol washes but I could not stand killing my bees when a sugar roll is just as effective in removing the mites from the bees for a mite count. The bees are a bit miffed but it's just sugar they are coated in and their mates soon clean them up.

Cost of the kit .. a kilner jar with the metal insert removed and a piece of varroa mesh put in its place. Good handful of bees into the jar with a belt of icing sugar - lid on - give them a good (gentle) shake - leave them bee for a few minutes - tip the jar up and shake out the remaining icing sugar and the phoretic mites that have fallen off onto a white piece of correx. Count the mites .. squish the live mites - estimate how many bees you have in the jar - if you let them out on a landing board you can count them as they crawl back into the hive - or a board on top of the frames when the roof is off.

Keep it simple (and cheap !!).

 

[domino]

I've got two, they are great. Once you get over killing the bees you have the most precise view of varroa levels in the hive.

 

[Millet]

I have found Vaping them and checking the inspection tray the next day gives you a good idea of how many Varroa are on the bees and running around in the hive, or should i say where on the bees and running around in the full hive, not just on a hundred bees backs.

 

[Finman]

.
Idea is to count, how many mites hive has / 100 bees. ----> mite %.

an example is about 300 bees.

 

[Millet]

.
Idea is to count, how many mites hive has / 100 bees. ----> mite %.

I can not see it being accurate, what if you test 100 bees that are lucky not to have many varroa on them and then check another hundred that have loads on them.?

 

[MuswellMetro]

Erichalfbee is right - inspection board alone is not a good indicator - can be wildly inaccurate. Also .. you really should only treat colonies that need treatment and unless you have a good idea of the infestation levels you are wasting treatments and time.

I do regular sugar rolls on my colonies alongside continually monitoring via the inspection board. I've done alcohol washes but I could not stand killing my bees when a sugar roll is just as effective in removing the mites from the bees for a mite count. The bees are a bit miffed but it's just sugar they are coated in and their mates soon clean them up.

Cost of the kit .. a kilner jar with the metal insert removed and a piece of varroa mesh put in its place. Good handful of bees into the jar with a belt of icing sugar - lid on - give them a good (gentle) shake - leave them bee for a few minutes - tip the jar up and shake out the remaining icing sugar and the phoretic mites that have fallen off onto a white piece of correx. Count the mites .. squish the live mites - estimate how many bees you have in the jar - if you let them out on a landing board you can count them as they crawl back into the hive - or a board on top of the frames when the roof is off.

Keep it simple (and cheap !!).

i agree with Pargyle, sugar role works well enough for a quick check, you arent doing a scientific research project

i use a small mug to scoop up the bees that i use with apidea (~200 bees)rather than count

 

[Finman]

I can not see it being accurate, what if you test 100 bees that are lucky not to have many varroa on them and then check another hundred that have loads on them.?

question is not about 100 bees. The colony may have 70 000 bees, and then mite amount rises and bee amount goes down, what happens then to the colony?

From that you can quess, how big pressure is towards winter bee brood?

http://www.beeculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2NOD.jpg


The bigger colony, the bigger mite load towards winter brood.

hmmmm. I do not count my mites, but it could be a good idea to count before it is too late.
.

 

[pargyle]

i use a small mug to scoop up the bees that i use with apidea (~200 bees)rather than count

Do you know - every day on here you find something that is the 'good idea of the day'. I never even thought about doing that ... to be honest I never really count them anymore as I've got a good idea of what a good handful of bees looks like - but the measuring cup :-

GREAT IDEA - you get the GIOTD Cup

 

[Hivemaker.]

I never even thought about doing that ...

We use a measure the same then tip straight into a meshed kilner jar, also shake them into an empty white plastic bucket, then tip a little bit of water into it which instantly dissolves the icing and any mites float on top the water, tip it out and ready for the next jar...much easier if it's a bit windy as the jar is held down into the bucket while shaking it, so no icing and mites blowing everywhere.

 

[pargyle]

We use a measure the same then tip straight into a meshed kilner jar, also shake them into an empty white plastic bucket, then tip a little bit of water into it which instantly dissolves the icing and any mites float on top the water, tip it out and ready for the next jar...much easier if it's a bit windy as the jar is held down into the bucket while shaking it, so no icing and mites blowing everywhere.

OK HM ... You get the runner up cup for the GIOTD !

That bucket idea with water I like ... I've spent a few minutes chasing live mites across my bit of correx in a cloud of icing sugar !... The little buggers are quite lively when they are alive ... bucket of water for me in the future !