Varroa EasyCheck was developed by Véto-pharma in 2016 to provide an accurate estimation of the mite infestation levels in a hive with the alcohol wash method. Recent investigations in our apiary showed that the Varroa EasyCheck can be used equally with the sugar roll and CO2 injection methods as well.
Each and every year recently, the media runs a story about Zombees (Zombie honey bees) as it alluringly mystifies the Halloween and the Day of the Dead experience. Many of us see the headline and the catch phrase passively; but do they really exist? Well to alter a famous holiday editorial phrase from a renowned 1897 editorial; “Yes, Virigina, there are zombees.”
The short days of winter can have an advantage for killing varroa, due to the absence, or scarcity, of brood in the hive. Varroa mites reproduce in honey bee brood, and most of their early life is spent there. As much as 80% of a colony’s varroa mites will, during periods of high honey bee and brood production, be contained within the cells of worker and drone cells.
“It is like an Ocean’s Eleven plan, where a curious member of the honey bee social team discovers a protected vault of liquid gold in the area. This brave forager girl ultimately enters an unfamiliar hive facility, perhaps passing by …
