Varroa inpection tray

[snoop]

How often & how long do you leave a tray in ?

 

[Heather]

For the colonies in my garden I put the tray in 1 hour after treating then inspect daily so I can count and monitor more accurately. The 3 out apiaries have the trays in anyway in the bad weather- (there is a 1" space but it excludes the worst of the winds- but ventilation still good) I ensure clean inserts just after treatment then I look in 1 week time. if the weather gets milder then i will remove the trays about 2 weeks after treatment.

But others may be different!

 

[VEG]

I only put the trays in when using apiguard. I dont put them in through bad weather or when using oxalic.

 

[drstitson]

i thought they should only be used when actively treating with apiguard or apilifevar or similar and any other time that natural drop needed monitoring. aside from that fully open floor.

 

[oliver90owner]

If you know where the cluster is, the board could be partly inserted with no affect on the required bottom ventilation.

A fully open floor is perfectly acceptable, but the bees will consume more stores. A fully closed floor is not acceptable for too long (assuming here there is no other ventilation, apart from the entrance slot) as that equates to a solid floor. Somewhere in between will be the optimum position, but the bees may not be clustering in the right place to check the mite fall!

Thinking 'outside the box' a bit - hives are different sizes (footprint), not all are even supplied with 100% mesh area, etc, etc.

RAB

 

[broandy]

i thought they should only be used when actively treating with apiguard or apilifevar or similar and any other time that natural drop needed monitoring. aside from that fully open floor.

Correct Doc