Bee Log #82

Varroa Mite Test Kit
We heard Randy Oliver speak at the Puget Sound Beekeepers meeting. He urged us to test for varroa mites so that we know our numbers. We put together a test kit from some simple items from our home: Two jars, isopropyl alcohol, a screened top for one of the jars (I used a jar top for growing sprouts), a jar ring, a 1/3 cup (200ml) measure and coffee filters.
We tested the bees for mites by finding a frame with brood (the nurse bees have the most varroa mites), making sure the queen wasn't on that frame and then sweeping bees into the measuring cup. These bees are then dumped into a jar with about 3/4 inch (2 cm) of alcohol in the bottom. The bees die almost immediately as do the associated mites. The bees are swirled around in the alcohol for about 1-2 minutes. The screened top is screwed onto the jar with bees. The coffee filter is fixed onto the other jar with a canning jar ring and the liquid from the killed bees is poured into the filter. The screen lets the mites and alcohol fall through into the filter. The filter allows you to save the isopropyl alcohol so that it can be reused. 1/3 cup of bees is about 200 bees so you divide the number of mites by 2 to determine your count of mites per hundred bees. Randy Oliver says that he does not want to see more than 2 mites per hundred bees.
Powdered sugar could be used in place of the alcohol and the bees would not be killed. In this method you shake the bees with the powdered sugar in a closed jar and then put a screened top on the jar and shake the powered sugar onto a white paper plate. The mites come out with the powered sugar. A fine spray of water dissolves the sugar and allows you to count the mites.
Getting the measuring cup full of bees and then to getting the bees into the alcohol was the hardest thing about the test. The bees don't want to get into the cup and then they do not want to stay in the cup. We did not always get a full 200 bees for a test run. We kept the bees in the cup by brushing as many bees into the cup as we could and then putting the brush over the cup and dumping very firmly and quickly into the alcohol. We estimated the number of bees by how full we got the cup.

Varroa Mites in a Coffee Filter
This is what you do NOT want to see when you test for mites in a hive. We found that we had let the varroa mite population build up to a high level in many of our hives. We need to institute a rigorous program for mite control next season for healthier happier bees through the whole season. For right now, we did treat our hives with formic acid after we tested for mites. This is considered a natural treatment as bees already have formic acid as part of their environment and part of the honey. It is also quite effective in killing mites.

A Wax Moth
I saw this wax moth by some wax that I had taken out of the solar wax melter. There is just a bit of honey still in the wax.

Bee Log 66: October 6, 2011

The photos above are dead varroa mites that have been wiped off of a collection board left under the screened bottom board of a hive.

We did not think that we had a mite problem this year. We have been checking drone brood for mites as we worked our hives this summer and saw very few mites compared with other years. We had run a few tests with a drop board under a hive and seen two or three mites after a 24 to 48 hour time period. Other beekeepers in the Seattle have been reporting light mite loads. We did not think we had a problem.

We ran a test. First, we put drop boards in 7 of the 8 hives that we keep at the Urban Horticulture Center. The mite counts after 48 hours were under 10 except for one hive that had a count of 55 mites. 3 hives received Hopguard and 3 got Mite Away Quick Strips and one got nothing. The first product is derived from Hops and the second is a slow release pad treated with formic acid. Neither product is considered a pesticide and both are approved for use while the honey supers are on the hive (our honey collection is done for the year).

The difference in results was dramatic. In the hives treated with Hopguard, there was a subsequent mite drop of from 10 to 15 mites in 24 hours after treatment. In the hives with the formic acid treatment, the mite drop was in the hundreds for all three hives. The six treated hives are in a row and the treatments were alternated. The hives treated with Mite Away Quick Strips were not as active as the other hives so we want to keep the experiment going past the 7 day treatment period to see how the bees fare. The weather during the application period was overcast or rainy with a daytime high in the low to mid 60's.

Bee Log 53: February 13, 2011

Take a look at the photo above. It shows the entrance to a beehive that is in our backyard in Seattle. The place where the bees land as they come into the hive is covered in a damp dirty substance. It is probably a mixture of dirt and mildew. This hive is dead. I don't know what it died of but then lots of beehives die in the winter since the verroa mite came into the area. Compare the landing board above to the landing board of the very much alive hive pictured below. The bees somehow keep the landing area clean. I don't know if they clean it or if in and out traffic keeps it clear. (Picture a matronly bee on her bee's knees with a brush and a pail of water!) The difference in the appearance of the the landing board has for me become a pretty good indicator of which hives have died over the winter.



If the hive is alive, the bee landing board at the front of the hive is clear and clean.