Varroa Mite Saga: A Quick Sugar Shake (Part 3)

So my traditional hive has mites, and I'm freaking out that it might be a pretty bad infestation just before going into the winter. This makes no sense. It's so unfair. I did everything I was supposed to do.


So I rationalize. Maybe it's not so bad. Maybe it's just that one frame. Then I start thinking about how long I'll have to wait to find out. Spring. Just when I would want my bees to be bringing home the bacon, er, honey, that's when the mite load will explode and they will murder my poor, defenseless bees.


Ok, maybe that's a bit extreme (ya think?). But the real problem is that I'll worry all winter. It's just not worth it.

The problem is, it's too cold to do much. Hmm, better to do something that may help...or at the least allow the delusion that it helped. So I wait for a 65 degree day, put the screened bottom board (SBB) back on, and do a sugar shake again.

In this picture, I have just finished putting confectioners sugar (aka powdered sugar) between each frame. I put the sugar in a jar, then I shake about a half cup at a time into a small sieve. This allows for pretty good control, and I can do it with my veil and gloves on.



Here is one of the frames right after the dusting. The poor bees hate this, but mites fall off immediately, so maybe some of them like it. Yaaaahhhh, that's the ticket. They know it helps and they like it! Or at any rate, it's natural, the sugar provides food, and I don't think it hurts.

I needed the SBB because I don't want the excess sugar and mites sitting on the bottom board, where the former will attract pests and the latter will find their way back onto the bees.


I was grossed out to see how many mites there were. This white picture is actually a piece of construction paper that I put under the screen. And this picture was taken right after the sugar shake. I noticed that I didn't get nearly as many 24 hours later, so it seems like most of the benefit of the sugar shake happens immediately.







Last but not least, here is what happened after I was done. A few bees were outside the hive when I did the sugar shake. They didn't seem to want to go back in and were festooning outside. Too much work to help clean off the the white bees I guess. Well, I showed them. I threw sugar on them.

Hey, it's for their own good, right?