Unsecure chicken perches

[chris spray]

I've had my colony direct from Omlet for 2 weeks now. On 5 frames ( 3 frames of brood). I've done a varoa drop count and got 16 in 7 days.

 

Question - as colony is small does the drop count to be worried about need to reflect this. presumably an established colony with 20k bees should have a higher count than a new one.

 

I guess I'm asking should I be worried about 2 and a bit mite drops a day on a new colony?

 

Chris

[Chicken Licken]

Hi Chris

If you have a look at this linkhttps://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=93 it take you to the Defra Beebase site - they have a managing Varroa booklet on there that advises on the drop rates and whether you need to treat or not. I got a hard copy of this on the beginners course, so perhaps you did too. You need to calculate your daily drop rate (no. of mites/ no. of days) and then see if you need to treat or not. <2 would be a low infestation. When you get some drone brrod you could do drone brood removal, or wait until the autumn and then treat them with apiguard. Someone more experienced will give some advice shortly I'm sure.