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�

Varroa Management Discussion

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Upcoming Dickson Bee Club Meetings

July 22: Building Your Honey Business, Josh Hager
August 26: Varroa Management Discussion
September 23: Honey Tasting and Photography Competition
October 28: Winter Management, Barry Richards
November 18: Al Taylor, Annual Meeting

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2025 Event Calendar

June 7: Family Picnic at Breckenridge farm, 1799 Nosegay Road, White Bluff
August 16: World HoneyBee Day Festival at the Bibb Center
September 23: Honey Tasting Event at the Bibb Center (regularly scheduled meeting)
November 8: Beginning Beekeeper Class at the Bibb Center
December 9: Christmas Party at local venue (no meeting in Dec)

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World Honeybee Day Festival:�Review of new elements�Suggestions for 2026

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New Elements in 2025

Busy Bees Children’s Activities
Library providing Story Time
Simplified raffle process with siren announcing winners each hour
Selling water and Gatorade
Way finding posters
Allowing up to 5 vendors to use generators
Hand hygiene stations
4 shuttle vehicles!

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Suggestions for 2026

DBC offer a table for members to sell honey
Clips for trashcan liners
One volunteer t-shirt in each raffle drawing
Pricing for raffle tickets $2 each or 6 for $5
No food vendors inside
Full equipment check of Bibb Center the week before the event
No Banners in Dickson! Blanket the city in flyers!
Add a 5^th position to the DBC leadership team, dedicated to the Festival

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Thank you��

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Treasurer’s Report:�James Tiensvold

Current Balance: $ 11,000 (approx)

Future expenses:

Monthly storage unit: $75
Honey Festival misc expenses: $200
Beekeeper Class: $???

Honey Festival Day sales: $ 2,000 (approx)
Honey Festival vendors: $3,100 (approx)

Treasurer’s

Report

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Club Hive Updates: Rudy Navarro

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Dickson Bee Club Requirements

Honey Tasting Contest

Any unlabeled jar, plastic or glass
Number assigned when you bring it in
Dividing honey into light and dark for judging

Photography Contest

8X10” printed photo
Color or black & white
Place on black or white mounting paper (to avoid using tacks or tape on the photo)

September Meeting:

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Beginning Beekeepers Class: November 9 �8 AM - 5 PM

Updated agenda this year
Interested in teaching??? Let Jane know.
Festival pricing through the rest of this month
$$$

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Election of 2025 Officers�& Approval of By-Laws Changes

President

1^st Vice President (hives)

2^nd Vice President (festival)

Secretary

Treasurer

November Meeting:

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�

Varroa Mite Management Discussion

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What is a Varroa Mite?

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What is a Varroa Mite?

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Scientific name 🡪 Varroa destructor

Originally a pest of Asian honey bee
Introduced to United States in 1987
In all beekeeping countries except Australia
Parasitizes larva and adult bees
Vector for diseases

The varroa mite is an 8-legged relative of the honey bee. It was originally on a Honey bee species, other than Apis mellifera, that lives in Asia. It transferred and quickly adapted to our western honey bee when the two species were maintained within the same apiaries, probably in the Philippines in the 1950 -60s. It was transferred accidently to Europe and South America and then entered the U.S. some time before 1987, when it was discovered in Wisconsin, in colonies moved to that state from Florida.

Within a few months is was discovered in an additional 10 states and today is totally distributed in all 50 states. A strictly enforced quarantine helped keep it from spreading into Canada, but following discovery in New Brunswick (1989) it is now widely spread there. It is, in fact, in all beekeeping areas of the world, except Australia (as of 2016), and lives on all bee races and selections, including the Africanized bee of the Americas.

Living up to it scientific name, it causes premature aging of adults and a less efficient worker force and death of developing pupal brood; feeding on hosts results in transmission of, and in some instances enhancement of pathogenic viruses and other bee diseases, which may subsequently reach epidemic portions and kill entire colonies.

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Successful Varroa control is PROACTIVE.

We need to control Varroa before the mites reach levels that threaten colony productivity and survival.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the recommended proactive strategy.

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The four population phases of the honey bee/Varroa mite seasonal cycle are dormant, population increase, population peak, and population decline.

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What percentage of mite infestation is considered potentially harmful?

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%

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What percentage mite of infestation is considered to be potentially harmful?�It depends on the seasonal phase.

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Post treatment sample percentage should be < 3%

Acceptable: Current mite populations are not an immediate threat.

Danger: Colony loss is likely unless the beekeeper controls varroa immediately.

The number, or percentage, of mites that is considered potentially harmful depends on the seasonal phase.

The percent is a measure of probability of significant risk to continued colony profitability and survival (it does not mean if you have the specified number there is no risk). In the Peak Population phase illustrated in red outline, there are lots of adult bees and lots of brood in fully developed colonies but mite populations are still building. The danger level [colony loss is likely unless the beekeeper controls varroa immediately] is 5% (although some consider 5% TOO HIGH and believe 3% a better upper limit). Levels above 5% means an even higher risk.

NOTE TO PRESENTER: CLICK TO REVEAL THE STATEMENT ON POST TREATMENT SAMPLING %.

When sampling post treatment, mite numbers should be less than 3%. If mite numbers remain above 3% following a treatment, you should consider applying another control chemical or method without delay.

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IPM is a set of proactive, non-chemical and chemical methods that offers beekeepers the best whole systems approach to controlling Varroa.

Regular sampling provides an estimate of your mite population and allows you to select the appropriate control technique.

IPM starts with most basic controls first.

Graphic courtesy of Penn State

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What sampling methods does �the Honey Bee Health Coalition recommend?

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Powdered Sugar Shake

Alcohol/Soap Wash

These sampling methods are accurate and easy to perform.

See the Tools for Varroa Management Guide and/or the Sampling Methods video to learn how to use them.

Removing mites from adult bees is the most accurate means of estimating the percent of mite infestation in a bee colony. The Powdered Sugar Shake and Alcohol/Soap Wash methods are two easy to use ways to do these. Details of how to use both sampling methods are found in the Tools for Varroa Management on the Sampling Methods video.

Generally, a beekeeper should sample for mites at least four times per year. Continued sampling in population decrease phase is important. You should also sample after treatments to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment.

NOTE TO PRESENTER: If people want to learn more about these methods, offer to show the Sampling Method video at the end of the meeting.

OPTIONAL EXPLANATION OF ILLUSTRATION:

The photo on the top left is a sample of 300 bees with powdered sugar; the larger photo shows shaking out the excess sugar and mites onto white surface.

The larger photo on the right shows an inexpensive double plastic cup with coarse cloth filter with rubbing alcohol used to separate the mites from the bees (see scientificbeekeeping.com for details on how to make your own sampler). The upper top right photo shows a double plastic jar with coarse wire cloth (#8 mesh) filter separating the 300 adult bee sample (top jar) and alcohol, with mites removed from the bees (bottom jar). Mites can be counted directly in liquid below.

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Resources: Videos

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Watch the Video Series: Search YouTube for “Tools for Varroa Management Honey Bee Health Coalition”

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��Treatment �While mite densities may vary across colonies, all colonies in an apiary should be treated at the same time with the same chemical or non-chemical technique.�

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Answer 5 questions to generate a list of your options

Do your varroa mite levels exceed threshold?
Are you open to synthetic & organic treatments or just organic?
Is brood present?
Do you have honey supers on?
Is your colony’s population increasing, at peak, decreasing, or dormant?

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Science and Products are Continuously Evolving

Everyone plays a role in controlling varroa and other diseases
Those who don’t treat varroa contribute to the spread
Recent studies found colonies treat with Amitraz were healthier and had better survival than colonies treated with oxalic acid (OA) vaporization
If you use OA, new recommendation to use it mid-December through January when hives are typically broodless

---Jennifer Tsuruda, PhD, Dept of Entomology and Plan Pathology, UT Knoxville

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Download the FREE tool at:

honeybeehealthcoalition.org/VarroaTool

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In Summary

The Varroa mite is a formidable foe.
Virtually all colonies have or will have mites.
A large percentage of colonies will not survive if the mite population exceeds 3%.
High Varroa populations (mite bombs) often result in virus epidemics that weaken or kill colonies.
Some resistant stocks are helpful but temporary fixes are still needed to keep mite populations lower.
The Coalition has developed a number of tools to help you control this destructive parasite.

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Review the points on the slide:

The varroa mite is a formidable foe.

It is found in virtually all colonies in North America, if not now, soon.

NOTE TO PRESENTER: The top right illustration is a bee with Deformed Wing Virus (DWV). It was infected as a larvae by a varroa mite carrying this virus. Adult bees infected with DWV do not have deformed wings but do little hive work, live much shorter lives, dying young outside the hive but also will abandon their hive, drifting into other hives, spreading the deadly virus to healthy colonies.

When the mite population grows and exceeds an infestation level of 3% (of the adult worker bee population), it, often, in association with viruses like Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), as shown in the insert, weaken and kill bee colonies.

Our ultimate solution for this serious pest is bees that can better resist the mites themselves; some stocks such as hygienic bees, UMN hybrids, new world Carniolan and VSH are helpful, but until we have consistent resistant stock, temporary fixes such as management treatments such as drone brood removal and brood breaks combined with mixture of chemical approaches in an integrated pest management approach to varroa control is necessary.

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Resources: Tool for Varroa Management Guide

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Link to decision tool.

Download the Guide:

www.honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroa

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Resources: Sampling and Control Spreadsheet

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Download the Excel Spreadsheet:

www.honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroa