Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DISEASE & PEST CONTROL => Topic started by: allisono on July 05, 2011, 11:27:19 am
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Hi everyone,
I am a new beekeeper and did a powdered sugar drop/dusting on both of my two hives on Sunday. Both my hives are pretty strong from what I can tell... In doing the powdered sugar (I live in Florida by the way) I counted about 20 mites in each hive and 2-4 small hive beetles after leaving it on an hour as advised by one of the guys at Dadant (I'm wondering if I shouldn't have left it on longer after reading a few other posts). What is a healthy population of Varroa mites and Small Hive Beetle suppose to be? Is this 1-hour estimate an acceptable test or do I need to repeat and leave the stick board on longer?
Thanks,
Allison
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Actually, you can count in 10 minutes and the drop will be almost the same as waiting 1 hour. The numbers you drop will vary, there will be a few fall and if you dust a day or two later the amount will double or triple. It depends on how many are hatching and comming out of the cells. Dust on a schedule and look for a trend to develop. When you start counting hundreds it is time to treat if you are sensitive to losses.
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Thanks for the advice :)
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Check out this site: http://www.extension.org/pages/25099/university-of-florida-bee-disease-videos (http://www.extension.org/pages/25099/university-of-florida-bee-disease-videos)
Our own hometown bee guru Jamie Ellis has the inside scoop on the pests that are the bane of our existence.