Varroa Mite Counts - Bee Vlog - Aug 15, 2014

Getting some mite counts on 6 of my hives: 3 survivors from last year and 3 new swarms from this year. I'll be joining other beekeepers in my local community on a "citizen science experiment/survey" to try to better understand how to help the bees in our area. It's a long term study that will take the next 6-8 months to complete, since winter survival is the final judging criteria for success.

In this video I show the first stage of getting a baseline mite reading with a sticky board. I coated the corrugated plastic boards with petroleum jelly then let them sit under the screen for 24 hours.

Mite count results:
Elizabeth: 14
Helen: 69 (50 is considered to be the treatment threshold here)
Jezebel: 21
Karma: 7
Louise: 3
Natalia: 0

Queen Helen origin video
Finding Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus


Video Link

Varroa Destructor

Immature Varroa mite

Bee compound eye

Bee ocelli (simple eye)