Latest Advice On Varroa

00:30 Importance of both good queens and low mite levels01:40 How Steve's thinking on varroa treatment regimes evolved from 2 times per year to three.02:20 Alcohol wash on all colonies as per Randy Oliver, treatment threshold03:15 What to do with infested colonies in summer when supers are on, what causes outlier colonies with more mites than the others, benefits of winter oxalic acid treatment04:50 Shook swarm - the drastic option05:50 Treatment free approach, for optimists and people in isolated locations, or people who have a closed population of bees 06:50 The problems with a "live and let die" approach07:30 Randy Oliver's method for breeding resistant bees that are good bees for commercial bee farming08:50 Quotes from Randy regarding going treatment free09:40 Progress towards resistance is still a win, fewer chemicals, lower costs10:30 Latest advice on dealing with varroa in honey bee colonies, below 2% infestation and below 1,000 mites total11:30 Importance of continual monitoring for treatment-free beekeepers, natural mite drop problems, alcohol wash12:30 Survival versus thriving bees, compare traditional to treatment freeLatest science on treatment-free:Mondet, F., Beaurepaire, A. McAfee, A., Locke, B., Alaux, C., Blanchard, S. and LeConte, Y. (2020) Honey bee survival mechanisms against the parasite Varroa destructor: a systematic review of phenotypic and genomic research efforts. International Journal for Parasitology, 50.DOI:doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.03.005  Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook