Varroa scratching post

[pargyle]

Had they coated the CD with "diametous dust" which is used for red mite control in poultry houses it may be more effective. The dust scratches the shell of the red mite when they pass over it and they dry out.

I read somewhere .. might have been a thread on here ? ... that diatomaceous earth was a real no no for bees as it is so spiky (at a microscopic level) that it is likely to tear the bees to pieces ...

Will have a look and see if I can find it ...

Found it ...

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=30113&highlight=diatomaceous+earth

 

[Pete D]

I have a few acres of honey bee scratching posts near me,
the farmer calls it Borage

 

[pargyle]

I have a few acres of honey bee scratching posts near me,
the farmer calls it Borage

Yes ... it's one of the things that puzzles me that they only seem to exhibit this grooming behaviour in the hive ? There are plenty of things outside the hive that they could use but clearly don't. I can only assume that bees out foraging have just one thing on their minds .. collecting and returning to the hive ?

Perhaps in their 'leisure time' in the hive is when they decide to scratch their backs ?

 

[steve1958]

OK .. curiosity got the better of me so I coughed up two days lunch money and bought one !

As I suspected it's a CD with the shiny side covered in what looks very much like cement slurry .. smells a bit like latex floor screed. Apparently you just lean it up somewhere in the hive so that the bees can scratch their backs on it .. which permanently damages any varroa on their backs and they drop off and die. Bloke selling them is a beekeeper and claims that he has been using them and they work.

I'm game for anything so I'm going to cut it in half so that it can stand on the straight edge of the diameter and put both halves into one of my hives and see if there is any effect.

It doesn't look that rough a surface to me ... I think I would have been happier with something more abrasive like ground pumice but we shall see. I'll put them in when I next inspect ....

OK... you can laugh now ....

Please do keep us posted.
It would be something if this really does make a difference.
I shall start saving my loose change in case I decide to buy one

 

[Erichalfbee]

OK .. curiosity got the better of me so I coughed up two days lunch money and bought one !


OK... you can laugh now ....

No no.....no laughing....let us know how you get on.

 

[pargyle]

No no.....no laughing....let us know how you get on.

Even I, who dabbles so much on the dark side, think it's absolutely bonkers ... but somebody had to try it and I figured it might as well be me ...

 

[Pete D]

Yes ... it's one of the things that puzzles me that they only seem to exhibit this grooming behaviour in the hive ? There are plenty of things outside the hive that they could use but clearly don't. I can only assume that bees out foraging have just one thing on their minds .. collecting and returning to the hive ?

Perhaps in their 'leisure time' in the hive is when they decide to scratch their backs ?

From the state of their wings after a week on the borage scratching themselves isn't a voluntary thing, if they forage borage its compulsory.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

He's now claiming it cures CCD !!!! whilst the rest of the world doesn't even know what CCD is

 

[pargyle]

He's now claiming it cures CCD !!!! whilst the rest of the world doesn't even know what CCD is

Well .. What would you expect from a CD Cure ?

 

[steve1958]

I note that the advert for this on ebay has changed.
Instead of the Bees killing the mites by rubbing against the disk
a new theory is explained.
The Hooks on the varroas body are caught by the surface of the disk.
The varroa end up stuck to the disc and die.

More likely they will just attach themselves to the next Bee that decides to have a rub down

 

[Hivemaker.]

The varroa end up stuck to the disc and die.

Bit like a varroa catching version of rat glue, do they give instructions of how often the disc needs to be removed and the dead mites cleaned off when it gets clogged up with them..

 

[steve1958]

In the advert it says The dead mites are pulled off the disc by the workers and put out with the rest of the hives trash.

Maybe there are more instructions with the disc itself.

 

[pargyle]

Maybe there are more instructions with the disc itself.

No there aren't ... Just says to lean it up on the side of the hive .. so I've cut the one I have in half and tomorrow it is going into one of my hives .. I think I'm going to drill a small hole in the half discs and use a drawing pin to fasten it them to opposite walls of the hive about an inch or so up from the mesh floor.

I'm not expecting miracles as none of my hives are dropping more than one or two mites a day at present .. so ... If I see piles of dead mites in the vicinity of the mite slayer I will know it's a success.

I'd post a photo of it but it just looks like a CD that has had one side dipped in wet cement and left to dry ... so use your imagination !!

 

[Thymallus]

In the advert it says The dead mites are pulled off the disc by the workers and put out with the rest of the hives trash.

Maybe there are more instructions with the disc itself.

Put it in your CD player.......

 

[pargyle]

Put it in your CD player.......

Shouldn't bee too many varroa in there ??

 

[Martin Bee]

What was the result of your trial? They are being advertise heavily again on fleabay.

 

[pargyle]

What was the result of your trial? They are being advertise heavily again on fleabay.

To be perfectly honest, it's inconclusive ... I put it in one of my polys .. cut it in half and leaned each half up against the side walls at the bottom of the hive ...none of my colonies have a heavy mite fall and the hive that it is in is no exception. I haven't see a noticeable increase in dead mites on the inspection board and (unlike the Beegym) there is no concentation of mites or drop pattern in the vicinity of the discs.

So ... the only answer I have at present is ... no obvious benefit I'm afraid.

The ones on ebay are a lot more expensive than the one I bought and they are from Austria so look like someone else has jumped on the idea.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I heard Ron Hoskins speaking at the Holsworthy Convention three weeks ago. He recounted how he saw a bee in his permanently-set-up observation hive doing an unusual waggle dance and grabbed his camera to take a video of it.

The bee had a Varroa on it (can’t remember if it was between the head and thorax or thorax and abdomen) but could not reach it with its own legs. The waggle dance attracted another bee, which proceeded to groom the mite off the dancing bee. These were Ron’s bees that are known to be hygienic so if they can detect a mite they will remove it by any means possible - bee gym, varroa mite disc or another bee. The video Ron took was not brilliant but it showed exactly what he described.

I’m convinced that if any bee detects a mite on itself, it will look for a means of removing it.

CVB

 

[Martin Bee]

To be perfectly honest, it's inconclusive ... I put it in one of my polys .. cut it in half and leaned each half up against the side walls at the bottom of the hive ...none of my colonies have a heavy mite fall and the hive that it is in is no exception. I haven't see a noticeable increase in dead mites on the inspection board and (unlike the Beegym) there is no concentation of mites or drop pattern in the vicinity of the discs.

So ... the only answer I have at present is ... no obvious benefit I'm afraid.

The ones on ebay are a lot more expensive than the one I bought and they are from Austria so look like someone else has jumped on the idea.

Thanks pargyle. I am not tempted as this autumn there was only a very low mite count and as I am in a cold place, 1000ft up on the North side of a hill, I have a good winter brood break in which to use oxalic trickle. This reduces mite counts to almost nil but I keep a check on it through the rest of the year.