Originally by Jim Orem and Ginger Davidson, edited by J. Morgan October is the month to prepare your bees for what Mother Nature has in store this upcoming winter. You might be wondering, what could cause the demise of my bees during the winter? Beyond diseases from mite infestation, it can be either starvation or moisture...…
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Alcohol wash to get a mite count in a beehive
Originally submitted by J. Morgan in 2013Revised Jun. 17, 2017 by Karen Ferguson to provide the latest info on alcohol washes blessed by SIBA. When I lost what I considered my best hive over the winter of 2013, I sent a sample of these bees to the Beltsville bee lab. It came back with a…
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Initial assessment of powdered sugar vs. alcohol wash in recovery of Varroa from adult honey bees
Contributed by Jim Orem and Kristen Giesting The goal of this study is to determine the effectiveness of using powdered sugar to detect varroa mites on adult honey bees. The standard protocol used by many beekeepers is an alcohol wash, which is said to be more effective, but also requires sacrificing 300 bees. Some bee…
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SIBA Makes Mite Washing kits to Raffle off at Summer Meetings
Submitted by J. Morgan A group of SIBA members, advocating the importance of beekeepers knowing their mite infestations, gathered together to create our version of a mite wash kit. It's a fact that most colony deaths are the result of varroa mites. Mites secretly build when the beekeeper isn't looking causing not only colony mortality,…
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