Low temperature scanning electron micrograph (LTSEM) of Varroa destructor on a honey bee host (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Three weeks ago, I noticed that some of my bees had deformed wings. A random selection of three of the dying bees were collected in from the yard. All three of the bees had deformed wings and one had a varroa mite on it’s back. A hive inspection revealed that varroa mites were in the hives. The bees were first treated with a dusting of powered sugar in hopes that they would remove the mites as they licked the sugar off one another. I’ve watched the hives closely and haven’t seen any improvement. Today, I installed apistan strips in the bottom brood boxes of both of my hives and removed the supers. At this time both of the hives had lots of honey stores in the brood boxes. The supers that were removed had lots of nectar and some capped honey. In six to eight weeks, the apistan strips have to be removed and the supers put back on the hives.
Related articles
- Honey bees fight back against Varroa (sciencedaily.com)
- Beekeeper unfazed by varroa mite (stuff.co.nz)
My Honeybees 