I hate varroa!!!

It's the first day of winter here in Aotearoa New Zealand and I am not ok with that! 

I'm not too happy because I still have tons of varroa! Plus it's cold and I cant see my bees as much 😞

I'm not the only one who has had to re-treat or do extra things to get the varroa down to the levels we need for the hives to survive the winter

There are lots of theories as to why the varroa has been so bad this season, from the weather, to a virus, to pesticide use weakening the bees

Whatever it may be it's very annoying! 

Quick Tip For You: Never trust that your varroa treatments have worked!  Always monitor varroa numbers to be sure

Alcohol washes are the most scientifically accurate way to monitor the varroa in your hive.  Use a half cup measurer to take approx 300 bees from you brood frames.  Place them in alcohol to quickly euthanize them then shake the bajingos out of them!  This is to dislodge the dead varroa from under the bees sections. 

Tip the bees, varroa, and alcohol into a double sieve.  Alcohol will flush straight through, bees will stay in the top sieve, then rinse the bees with water to flush any extra varroa through to the bottom sieve.  Count the varroa, then count the dead bees.

Number of varroa/number of bees X 100 = percentage of varroa.  

You want 1% infestation or less.  1 - 3% you may need to make a decision based on the season: Spring is not as important as the bees can breed faster than the varroa, while in Autumn you need the numbers to be very low so they can be strong enough to survive the winter.

If your varroa numbers are too high you may have to look at another treatment and remember to rotate your chemical treatments so the bees don't become resistant! 

Happy Beekeeping Everyone

❤️ Sarah C 🐝