Hi Guys,

>The results showed the varroa, not just on the nurse bees as in a sugar
roll but rather on the whole hive.

That's one of the reasons I dabbled in powdered sugar blasting. See

http://bwrangler.madpage.com/bee/gbla.htm

I initially used it to get a whole hive sample of varroa mite infestation.

I know blasting can be quite effect if used properly. But it's alot of work.

It would be interesting to do a 'sugar dump' between the frames and then
take a hive apart and observe sugar's distribution. Those little
electrostatically charged bees might be more coated that I would think. And
dumping takes much less time/energy than blasting although it takes more sugar.

As a curious note, my first encounter with varroa involved powdered sugar.
Back in the late 80's and early 90's, before any beekeeper I knew had seen a
varroa, several of my hives developed PMS and got dusted with TM thinking it
was a brood disease. The 'disease' persisted so they were isolated and
treated again. The 'disease' would abate somewhat but would soon return. So
I dumped a lot of TM down between the frames and the hives survived until
the next season when I saw my first varroa mites in them! I now know it was
the powdered sugar knocking down the mites that kept those hives alive.

Regards
Dennis

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