Varroa Mite Control - Alternative Methods

Paul Kelly, research and apiary manager, explores alternative methods of controlling Varroa mites in hives.

Filmed by Wissarut Sukhaket and edited by Wissarut Sukhaket and Jenna Scharnowski.

For more videos, check out the University of Guelph's HBRC YouTube channel at this link: @University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre

[ericduncan]

The most important statement in this video is your use of the phrase “as part of an Integrated Pest Management system for the bees.”
There is rarely ever one quick trick or cure for pest problems in agriculture of any kind so having techniques that combine even in a small way to reduce pest pressure does multiple things for the colony health and the beekeeper’s mental health.
I have often called honey bees the “gateway drug to ecological thinking” since the observations through hive monitoring and management are such keys to understanding the small and large changes in the world around us.
These supplemental IPM tasks in the video are great methods to keep a beekeeper engaged and really focused on their colonies throughout the entire year.
Brood-less periods, monitoring techniques, selection for queen stock that has done well in your micro climate, management style and with the mites are all key to colony success.
Always love your videos. They have educated me well over the years even if I still can’t pronounce Guelph….

[roycarter]

Greetings from the Blue Mountains outside Sydney Australia. I am a Queen breeder. I have been watching your excellent videos for some years now. Varroa came quite close to my part of the world. I am constantly checking my hives. So far no know that is not going to be the case in the future. SO! I'm researching alternative treatment methods. I understand that I will be facing the use of a miticide. I do like the idea of what we call an Ideal frame ( half depth ) allowing the bees to build drone comb below worker comb. That is a simple solution. I have reduced my apiaries down to one and drastically reduced the number of hives. I know that it will be a steep learning curve. Can I stay the hope so. Thank you for this excellent video. It helps.

[w]

Glad to see another video from you all. I have been doing a mite count twice a year and laying a paper towel soaked in 2 to 1 sugar syrup mixed with oxalic acid. I just lay it on top of the frames and put the hive cover back on. In a few weeks it's completely gone and dispersed throughout the hive. I will try the shallow frame in a deep hive though. I like that idea. Great to see you guys again.

[matthewrick]

Always so happy to get another (rare!) video from you folks. Always so well presented! Also, took that lip sting like a boss 😎

[s.fla.beekeepingmangoesand]

Thanks for posting. I must admit I was disappointed to find out none of the methods replace miteacides.

[benjamindejonge]

Classical the drone brood removal is my way to go, however the long term of selection the stock is an investment many can’t afford but an absolute necessity for the future as beekeeper.

[jimschowe]

We, my bee club, are trying to use rhubarb leaves (they contain oxalic acid) to separate layers in the hive to control mites. The bees chew the leaves and release the oxalic acid and kill the mites. We have no final determination on the effectiveness of the treatment but it is a natural treatment.

[bunhelsingslegacy]

I'm really confused about the screened bottom board's supposed effect, we have two hives with screened bottom boards and we coated some paper in vaseline and left that in there a good while, never saw a single mite on either one all summer, just a whole lot of wax moths... and our biggest producer (which we figured would have been the mitiest given that they're PACKED with bees) had one mite when we did a mite wash but I'm glad we treated everyone with Apivar anyways because the hive next to it that also had a bottom board was a mite bomb according to what we found on the screens a week after putting in the strips. The hive we tested had maybe a dozen dead mites, the other one had too many to casually count. I'm gonna have to go watch that video again on screened bottom boards again, even though I was sure I'd looked at it before.

[JR-kkce]

LOL! You are a much better man than I. If I had gotten stung on the lip, I would have taken off running.

[lowtriggerweightjay]

Im a firm believer “less interference” and doing anything possible to help create an increase of Propolis amongst the hives. I started experimenting with log hives a few years ago. The log hive bees produced more propolis and honestly just look way healthier and are more active. I will always believe that Propolis production is a cure all for what ales bees.

[paulphotios]

Probably requires different techniques depending on the number of hives you manage. The mom and dad with a couple of dozen hives in the back yard, small commercial operators with a hundred or more, or the major commercial operators will all be looking at different levels and methods of management. The mom and dad bee keepers can try different forms of infusions. In australia we have a massive opportunity to see what natice plants may be effective.

[lmills]

What about using Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Hypoaspis miles) which eat, bite off the legs and punch holes in the varroa mites. It works well when combined with small cell, drone, and screen bottom boards.

[williamsummers]

Counting varroa mites is interesting, but it does not rid you of them. That can be done if the hive design is both humid and well insulated. If you change the hive environment by changing its design features you can be varroa treatment free. You just need to make an environment that reduces the varroa replacement value over each generation. This is not so hard. Forget chemicals. Honey bees in Cuba and South America have apparently learned to deal with it. The reason is likely to be that the climate is hot and humid. The question is how far north will it go in Australia where it is now resident. The propensity for varroa to die away in a humid hive was found out by accident when a laboratory hive was accidentally left at a higher humidity than others and that one lost its varroa. The precise mechanism of varroa destruction by high humidity remains a mystery. A standard bee hive entrance at the floor level with ventilation at the top causes a cooling stack (or flue) effect internally. This cools the hive in winter and takes away its humidity all year. The temperature difference in winter between inside and out is greater as is the ventilation, when it is not needed, but less so in the summer when it is. Trickle top cross bee entry and ventilation in a beehive rather than bottom entry causes it to be more humid allowing a bucket of humidity to form and which also appears to be controllable by the bees, because when the outside ambient temperature falls at night the humidity rises by up to 20% points in a top entry hive. I invite you to try this. The only thing you have to lose is your varroa.
The propensity for varroa to die away in a warm hive is due to the time that a bee pupa takes to hatch which varies between 10 days (35C.) and 15 days (31C.) which depends on when and where it is in the brood nest. A highly insulated external hive envelope serves to keep the brood temperature up throughout the hive and over time, allowing the bees to hatch quicker and therefore for the varroa to not have enough time to mature in the cells. Winter in the UK is varroa breeding heaven, but insulation confounds them and reduces the winter stores consumption to about half, as a bonus.
The DIY ZEST hive is made from aerated concrete blocks which have 39 times more Resistance (R) to the passage of heat than a thin walled wood hive has and consequently is functionally free of varroa. If you want to know more about varroa free hive design go to the ZEST web page, and read the free E-Book going to pages 21 to 24 and 50 where the mechanism for varroa free will be revealed. There is a U-tube that you may also want to view titled “Build your own bee hive-heathy bees-zest hive”.

[beehinde]

What are your thoughts, regarding queen rearing and using these techniques. Isn't there a possibility that you are decreasing the gene pool, whereby there may not be enough drones in the area, especially if other beekeepers used the same technique.

[GAParkinson-qyol]

I've used pseudoscorpions for the last four years and I don't have mites. Also I personally as a hobby beekeeper neglect my bees, by neglect I mean that I don't go into the brood box and instead of weekly checks I do monthly. Also no other beekeeper gets anywhere near my bees and if I'm going to a communal apiary then I'm not going to wear anything that is likely to come into contact with my bees. I live in the Tyne Valley in North East England. It's cold, it's permanently raining, it's always windy and my apiary sits on a North facing slope.

[davegaetano]

I use the method recommended by Randy Oliver of Scientific Beekeeping, oxalic acid extended release strips.

[JustBees]

If you take pepcid ac max (famotidine 20mg) before you play with bees, then the sting won't swell or hurt. Just a lil poke. I was stung by 43 bees in Sept 2022 when I dropped a hive. I never reacted in any way. Before I started taking famotidine, I would swell up all over for over a week and feel like I had the flu. But now, I have no reaction.

[cleverjoe]

You brave a kiss in the lip better than I, Paul. Thanks as always for the great videos.

[JustBees]

I put double medium boxes with only 1 layer of 10 medium frames on upper 2nd box. They seem to be able to cluster tighter and stay warmer. They build comb along the bottom.

[marielizer]

When can you harvest the honey after the spring treatment?