Bugs In Numbers …
On my last Varroa count on 21 December 2013, there was an estimated 1,700 Varroa in Hive Two. I was hoping that the Oxalic Acid treatment that I applied on the same day was going to reduce the varroa to about 340 (i.e. a 90% reduction).
On Sunday I did a Varroa count. Over 11 days, 27 mite had dropped onto the Varroa board. This means there has been an Average Daily Mite Fall of 2.5 Varroa mites and an estimated number of adult Varroa mites in the colony of 980.
This means I only reduced the count by about 40% … which, in turn means … I have failed!
Bugs On The Brain …
Perhaps it’s because of the warm winter we are having leading to more capped brood and the oxalic acid being less effective? Perhaps I could have used more acid? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps …
I may have lost my battle with Varroa but the good news is, I have not yet lost my sanity. In fact, I’m proud to tell you that despite the bad news, I am surprisingly quite calm about it. Two years ago I would have been pulling my grey hair out but I think experience has chilled me out.
A former boss once said to me “just do what you can”. This is based on the premise that we have busy lives and not to worry about all the things we just don’t have time to do. So I’m going to add Apiguard in April and cull the drone brood. Until then, I’ll just sit back and count my Varroa.
Disclaimer: “just doing what you can” is often not enough … it just might make you feel better on the journey.
Further Reading
- I have updated my Beekeeping Guides and Books pages: UK guides / USA guides
- Hive Two Record Card
- Previous Post: 2,000 Varroa In Hive Two
Hmm, puzzling. But at least you tried, and 40% is 100% better than 0%.
My thoughts exactly. Buys me another 3 months before I need to take further action!
Have heard of dusting the bees lightly with icing sugar – doesn’t kill varroa but causes bees to clean themselves, thus knocking varroa off onto board… haven’t tried it yet but worth a try?
Thanks for the thought. From my understanding of icing sugar treatment: anecdotally a lot of beekeepers say they get a high mite knock off rate afterwards, but I understand that scientific experiments have shown it to not be effective. Also – it is not recommended in the FERA National Bee Unit guidance.
A paper was written in 2009 titled: “The efficacy of dusting honey bee colonies with powdered sugar to reduce varroa mite populations”. I have not paid for the full article but the abstract concludes, “Within the limits of our study and at the application rates used, we did not find that dusting colonies with powdered sugar afforded significant varroa control”. I.e. It had no effect in the conditions they used. The researchers dusted every two weeks for 11 months with 120 g powdered sugar per application. They treated by sifting icing sugar over the top bars of the brood nest and then brushing it between the frames.
Here is a link to the paper.
Dear Roger,
I am a student studying Anthropology at the University of Bristol. I am currently looking for volunteers to take part in my dissertation study which consists of a 10-15 minute phone interview and is essentially an exploration of beekeepers and their methods in the UK.
I have been following your blog since May last year and have thoroughly enjoyed the insights you provide into the trials and tribulations of the beekeeping world. I am planning on conducting my interviews at the beginning of next week. Let me know whether this is something that may be of interest to you (or your friends and followers) on ai0098@my.bristol.ac.uk and I will get back to you with further details of the study.
Best Wishes,
Anna
Thanks Anna. I’m definitely interested and I’ll send out a post in the next week with your details.