The battle against varroa

In the press there is endless discussion on the effects of climate, environment and pesticides on 'bees' but virtually nothing is said about varroa which is at least a big problem as the others.
Varroa is something that affects honey bees but not bumble bees or solitary bees.
They lay their eggs in the comb in the hive and the mites develop and attach themselves to the bees. They push a spike into the bee and drain proteins and nutrients from the blood weakening the bee and eventually the whole colony can die.

Varroa mite

Varroa is everywhere and there is no silver bullet to get rid of them and the best a bee keeper can do is try and control them.
A bee keeper should monitor the levels of mite infestation so if there are signs of a rapid growth in mite population, action can be taken otherwise the mites weaken the colony and it dies.

A common way to check mite levels is to use a varroa floor and sticky board.
I have just bought a couple of varroa floors for the bee hives that might be going to the Wildflower Meadow so I have done a short video about them.

Its thought you should check varroa levels four times a year, although I know some beeks who do it monthly and some who rarely do it at all. It can be time consuming and if you have a lot of hives it can be a pain.
Mite count can be a bit subjective as the colony size is much smaller in the Spring than it would be in the height of Summer although if you keep regular records, changes can be detected.
I will probably do my first check in March and will do a blog about it then.