Beekeepers need to be on constant red alert over deadly mite!
News from the Fonmon Apiary with Harold Williams
SPRING is definitely here!
Green shoots are showing everywhere. Snowdrops and hazel catkins are out and the days are getting longer.
On days when temperatures are up, the bees are out collecting the pollen on offer from the catkins and snowdrops. So far, all of the colonies are active but it is not yet time to carry out an in-depth inspection of each hive. Instead, I am dependent on the debris that I find in the under-floor debris trays.
The floor of each hive is made up of a fine mesh and the bees are quite happy with this type of base. The advantage for me as the beekeeper is that pollen grains fall through into the tray along with particles of wax and small parts of a bee’s anatomy – plus most importantly dead Varroa Mites.
I collect the debris from the trays on a weekly basis and religiously count the mites found there. This counting gives me a good idea as to the mite population that is present in each colony. Most noticeably, among the dark brown adult mites there are a fair number of very pale (white) immature mites.
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Varroa Mite numbers should reduce at the end of each year simply because the Queen bee should have stopped laying and is not providing the wherewithal for the mites to increase their numbers. The breeding cycle of the Varroa is closely aligned to that of the bees and therefore the white mites tell me that the Queens have continued to lay throughout the winter months.
This should not be so!
Varroa Mites are to be considered a major threat to the welfare of the honeybee. Unfortunately, many beekeepers seem not to be aware of this fact. In fairness, not all beekeepers have the facility that I have – a large magnifying glass with a built in light and, of course, the patience to count what can be sometimes several thousand mites.
Each and every beekeeper should now read and pursue information as to how to control the Varroa Mite. Failure to do so can only hasten the demise of the honeybee.
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