On 03/09/2012 21:43, randy oliver wrote:
> Umberto, there is a large body of thresholds.  Look at ScientificBeekeeping
> varroa IPM Reconnaisance for dated ones.  Most of us commercial beekeepers
> now use much lower thresholds.
> [...]
>
> The above figures apply to my bees, in my operation, in the foothills of
> the Sierra Nevada around Grass Valley, CA, which may be similar to your
> Italian climate.  Have you got any data or observations to share for Italy?
>

Sorry for the long delay in the answer.
In Italy bottom screen counts are more commonly used. As a treatment
strategy we mostly rely on a winter "silver bullet" treatment and a
"buffer" treatment in summer.
As a beekeepers' association we are working now with sugar shake, but we
still do not have thresholds for the very different Italian
environments. That's why I'm very interested to your experience about
thresholds.
Moreover, as "silver bullet" treatments (efficacy>  90%) are more and
more difficult to obtain, I feel it is very important to monitor the
apiary infestation with a quick, reliable method, in order to adapt the
mite control strategy to the actual scenarios.
I'm planning to check the efficacy of the protocol we use for sugar
shake (Lee et al. 2010, JEE) against alcohol wash. We need to know the
percentage of mites dislodged by sugar and its variability.


-- 
Umberto Vesco
DVM, PhD
Italy

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