Check there are no capped cells still in the broodframes and if you
find them, uncap and inspect. Presumably there are no workers left in
these hives you mention?
Varroa can survive in [dead] sealed brood for over 30 days (Shabanov
et al. 1978) but this seems to be the limit. Without adult bees to
open such still-capped cells, the varroa cannot be liberated to find
another food source and therefore they die.
If the colonies have been totally unoccupied for some time, you
shouldn't worry too much about infection from varroa but check the
frames for signs of other disease, esp chalkbrood and the foulbroods
before hiving new colonies in them.
Hope this helps.
Max
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Survival of Varroa
Author: [log in to unmask] at INTERNET1
Date: 04/06/96 14:35
Does any one know how long Varroa mites can survive in a non-occupied hive.
The question concerns how long previously infested equipment needs to be
stored unused to ensure that all varroa life stages have died out.
Thank you for your attention to this.
Whitney Cranshaw
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