Natural Varroa Mite Fall Project

Aim of this project:
  1. Determine a possible relation between daily natural mite fall in the last week, of April, May, June, July, first week of September and colony loss in the winter 2010-11
  2. Inform beekeepers about the risk of delaying a varroa treatment if mite fall is above the warning limit

The table below shows the number of colonies in the project and the percentage of colonies above the warning limit.


Natural Mite Fall Results 2010
 End SeptemberEnd JulyEnd JuneEnd MayEnd April
 Nr. Colonies% mite fall > 1Nr. Colonies% mite fall > 10Nr. Colonies% mite fall > 8Nr. Colonies% mite fall > 3Nr. Colonies% mite fall > 2
All4667.39%5332.08%3016.67%195.26%3429.41%

Advice

May: A daily mite fall of more than 3 mites in the last week of May is hazardous. It is worth considering a treatment with formic acid 85% immediately after harvesting the spring honey flow.

Daily natural mite fall above 30 mites needs action without delay in anytime of the year.

Next counting will be in the last week of June.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Romée van der Zee

Netherlands Centre Bee Research
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