On Tue, 18 Feb 1997 07:21:08 -0500, Joel W. Govostes wrote:>
>Is comb-trapping, or similarly, removal of drone brood en masse helping the
>mites' success, or is it indeed a valuble method for the hobbiest, if timed
>right?  There was a lot of back and forth discussion on this but it seems
>to have petered out.
 
Hello,
Trapping Varroa mite by drone combs is a method to reduce mite population
in the colonies.
As everyone knows, Varroa prefer to reproduce in drone cells to worker
cells of A.mellifera. Moreover, in drone cells, the mites have higher
reproduction rate compared to that in worker cells. Therefore, a drone
comb in colony will attract the mites to come and lay eggs. So, if we can
rear one or two drone combs and after capping, all drone brood is removed
including the mother mites and daughter mites, the mite population in those
colonies will be reduced considerablly. For a single colonies, if we use
one drone comb for trapping, it is good to apply two or three times. Using
sharp knife we can cut off the caps of the drone cells and then beat gently
the drone combs into the floor or so. All drone brood falls out
automatically. There is a notice that the drone brood should be kept until
they reach pupal stage as this will eas the brood removal. This method is
very very popular in Vietnam where Vietnamese beekeepers apply it combining
with bee management technique. I hope this info is usefull.
Regards
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Nguyen VanDung
Int.Edu.Office
University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury
Richmond, NSW, 2753, Australia
Email : [log in to unmask]
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