Peter Edwards said [in connection with making just monthy checks of trays for varooa]:> > Can't agree with this. After a month there can be a considerable amount of > debris making it very difficult to estimate the number of varroa. I have > tried this in the past and then taken the debris home for a thorough count. > The estimate was always wrong. There is also the matter of waxmoths - in > this area your tray would be alive after a month! Regular checks just to find the odd colony that has picked up varooa from outside only need mites counts on a scale of two - 'few', or 'lots'. If there is too much rubbish to see even that, wipe clean and check again after only a week. I use yellow plastic tea trays [costing 85p - say $1.20] from the hardware shop, as mites show well against yellow. Wipe the trays with petroleum jelly so the rubbish comes away easily. If moth larvae are there, wipe them away - and be glad they were there and not right in the hive - the trays act as a moth trap. Just before u think of annual treatments, certainly clean and check again after a week as then u do need to estimate numbers as carefully as u can. UK trays have handles at the ends - cut these off to reduce the total length of the tray to 375mm - they then jam tight under the mesh floor [without need for support battens] since the walls of the hive are 371mm apart. Trays must be 2 inches or more below the mesh - mites are then unable to sense the bees above and do not crawl back even without an oil barrier. > >Isn't Varooa one of the most serious problems we have? Peter said: > > I am not sure that it is! We must not forget that varooa mites are in every single hive once they have arrived in an area, and every hive dies out with say 5 years at most if not treated effectively. Most other diseases affect only a few colonies and are not so deadly. Varooa is only controlled so effectively because of Apistan - scientists have not had as much success with thymol as Peter or we would all know of it. Even Vita [who make both Apistan and Apiguard which contains thymol] do not advocate using only Apiguard. So until another treatment as effective as Apistan is actually on the market, surely varooa remains a major threat and we need to promote methods of use that will delay [inevitable] development of resistance for as long as we can. Robin Dartington :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::