Now that Varroa has been confirmed in New Zealand, rapid safe
testing procedures are essential.

Can anyone vouch for the effectiveness of the test below?  Is there
any data on anyone having compared this with other methods?

Regards,
Peter Bray

> Forwarded From: [log in to unmask]
> Author:  docbull
> Subject:  NEW VARROA MITE FIELD TEST
>
> An easier, safer "for the bees" method for determining level of Mite
> infestation in your bees. Like so many other procedures and methods, you
> wonder why you didn't think of it yourself.
>
> Place a tablespoonful of confectionary sugar in a pint jar along with
> approximately 200 honeybees, close and shake vigorously, leave for
> several minutes, afterwards empty container onto a white paper. The bees
> will fly away and the mites will be left behind for easy indexing. A
> technique that should be used anytime you suspect an infestation exists.
> This procedures appeals to me, I never liked the idea of killing
> honeybees.
> -------
>
> Don't know how well this works, but thought it worth passing on.
>
> allen
>


_________________________________________________________
Airborne Honey Ltd., PO Box 28, Leeston, New Zealand
Fax 64-3-324-3236,  Phone 64-3-324-3569
www.airborne.co.nz
[log in to unmask]
We Accept MS Word 2.0 Files, Excel 4.0, Corel Draw 8.0, *.BMP,
 *.JPG, *.GIF *.TIF, *.PCX