I forwarded the message of Dr. Pedro Rodriguez on his thoughts of the
comb-trapping method to control Varroa to Dr. Ingemar Fries, who has
a wide experience on the use of this method. Although there have been
already good answers to Dr. Rodrigues, I forward his message to
BEE-L readers:
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Dear Seppo!
Thank you for sharing the discussion on Bee-L on Varroa and trapping comb
with me.
Well, this Dr Rodriguez does not seem to fully understand the virtues of
comb trapping to control Varroa. "It is very important to realize that the
two most important life-giving mechanisms of the colony are taken away:
the egg-laying queen and the feeding mechanism of newly born worker
bees!" says Dr. Rodriguez. Well, I think he should study the matter a bit
closer before passing a judgement. Neither of these two statements are
true unless you want them to be!! We actually have very good results with
some beekeepers now for ten years. Combined with treating the sealed
combs outside the colonies with formic acid, which kills the mites in the
sealed cells, but not the bees, this method works quite well. Some beekeepers
use these trapping combs to produce new nuclei. Just take about 6 sealed
and treated combs, add one super of bees (if lots of mites, first one treatment
with lactic acid) and a queen cell or laying queen, and you have got a nice
colony that do not need treatment for Varroa the same season. Of course
the treated combs can also go back into the colony where they were produced
if an increase in colony numbers is not wanted.
The trapping comb technique originally used one comb for the queen at comb
shift, but with the option of reusing the combs after treatment, it is not
necessary to limit the queen's egglaying that much. If the egglaying of the
queen is restricted, then this method must be employed at the right time in
relation to the main honey flow to avoid loss of honey. But when you can
reuse the brood in which Varroa is caught, it is possible to use the method
whenever you like without loss of honey or bees. Where you have problems of
reinvasion of mites into treated colonies, removing of a sealed drone comb
in the spring usually is recommended.
Naturally this is not a method suited for beekeepers with hundreds of
hives, and perhaps it works best in a cold climate, but surely it must be
appreciated that Varroa control is possible using mainly management
methods.
Some of our results using trapping comb and/or treatment of sealed brood
have been published in English:
Fries, I. & Hansen, H. 1993. Biotechnical control of Varroa mites in cold
climates. American Bee Journal 133: 435-438.
Fries, I. 1991. Treatment of sealed honey bee brood with formic acid for
control of Varroa jacobsoni. American Bee Journal. 131: 313-314.
Dr. Ingemar Fries
Entomology Department
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
S-750 07 Uppsala Sweden
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Department of Entomology E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Swedish Univ. Agric. Sci. Tel: Int+ 46 18 67 20 73
Box 7044 Fax: Int+ 46 18 67 28 90
S-750 07 Uppsala
Sweden
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