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ocba - Re: [ocba] Sampling for varroa - sugar shake vs alcohol wash

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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Mark Anthony Powers <markapowers53 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Mark Waller <wallermarkw AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>, Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Sampling for varroa - sugar shake vs alcohol wash
  • Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2017 10:58:19 -0400

Is he sure they are bees and not yellow jackets?

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 27, 2017, at 9:33 AM, Mark Waller <wallermarkw AT gmail.com> wrote:

Good morning my Bee friends, my good friend is the pool manager at hollow rock racquet and swim club. He called me with a concern about so many honeybees surrounding the pool area. Trash cans, pool water itself. He changes the bags in the cans twice a day. Keep the lids on, Was wondering if there is anything else he can do to keep honey bees from frequenting his area? Patrons are concerned. He does not want to use any spray on the bees. Any ideas? Thanks for your help, Mark Waller

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 25, 2017, at 9:01 AM, Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:

Excellent post, John!

For folks who may not know how to do a sugar shake test or how to do it correctly, see the article I Don't See Any Mites and the Honey Bee Health Coalition's Handbook and video series. There are a couple of key points that folks may get wrong:

  1. You must use 8-per-inch wire mesh for the test. You CANNOT use window screen -- it WON'T WORK. #8 mesh is hard to find; they don't carry it at WalMart, Lowes or Home Depot. They do carry it at Bailey Bee Supply for something like $3 per linear foot, where one foot will make enough lids for you, all of your friends and most of your relatives. If it is just too much trouble for you to go to BBS, I'll sell you a wide-mouth mason-jar-sized screen lid for $1 and you can pick it up at the next OCBA meeting or you can come to my house to get it.
  2. After dumping the sugar onto the bees in the jar, you must swirl vigorously to coat the bees with sugar THEN LET THEM SIT QUIETLY FOR FIVE MINUTES before shaking out the sugar & mites. People sometimes forget the the "wait five minutes" step and so the test doesn't work correctly.

Randall Austin



On 7/25/2017 7:56 AM, John Rintoul wrote:
3F09F0A0-14AB-45AE-9899-4BA3F65E5871 AT icloud.com">
 I have been concerned that my varroa sugar shake was under-reporting the actual varna load in my colonies. So today I did a test.

I collected my bee sample, shook them with powdered sugar, and counted varroa. The count was zero. This colony had been treated with MAQS (formic acid) on June 20 so a low varroa count was expected. Nonetheless, the zero count reinforced my concern that sugar shakes don't accurately reflect the true varroa load in the hive.

So using the bees that had already been shaken with powdered sugar, I followed up with an alcohol wash. I swirled the alcohol and bees and let them set for a couple of minutes. Then I strained the wash off through a paper towel. A second alcohol wash yielded the same result. Varroa count = 0. 

So the sugar shake and the alcohol washes yielded the same result. This s a very small sample size for comparing sugar shake to alcohol wash. But my experience is consistent with the experience of bee researchers. They report that there is not enough variation between sugar shakes and alcohol washes to worry about. 

So from now on I will save the bees and trust my sugar shake technique. The sugar coated bees in the varroa sample are always welcome when they are returned - alive - to the hive. 

For new beekeepers - Now is the time to check the varroa loads in your hives. If my experience today counts for anything, you can assume that your sugar shakes accurately reflect the true mite load in hives. Treat to control mite loads accordingly. Use mite control products that are suited to the expected maximum daily temperature. MAQS (formic acid) below 95°F. Apiguard (thymol) below 105°F. Apivar (amitraz) without temperature limitations. Oxalic acid vaporizations or drizzle - if the bees are broodless. 

-John 

John Rintoul
(919) 414-4071
No trees or bees were killed in the distribution of this message, but countless electrons were seriously inconvenienced.


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