How to Alcohol Wash to Detect Varroa Mites - Alcohol Mite Wash | The Bush Bee Man

[@hanslain9729]

TIL the Bush Bee Man enjoys whiskey. If I were closer, it'd be drinks on me! Really enjoy your show. Your kid would enjoy a few rounds of his favorite beverage too. He does great work with this channel!

[@bryanstarke7406]

Short, sweet & to the point….. with a good helping of BBM humour to ease the topic….hoping & praying it is contained & eradicated in NSW.

[@brucesbees]

Love the intro man. You are awesome! I wish you guys the best of luck as you navigate the probability of mites coming your way! I like to use Dawn Ultra. 1 to 1.5 tablespoons per gallon on water. And I usually fill the cup up to almost the 300 bee line in the cup. It will be a sickening feeling when you find the first mite. But there are tools out there to treat them and hopefully your bees won’t skip a beat.

[@randyclinganfarms4806]

Dawn Ultra Clear has been proven by Randy Oliver that it works better getting all the mites off the bees.Love your vids thanks from Ohio USA

[@stefanb8635]

Hey Mark, there are lines inside on the white strainer to mark 200 and 300 bees. The alcohol wash works better if you fill the pot with that much alcohol. Also you should try to shake for a least a minute. After doing a mite wash I strain the alcohol through a coffee filter and save it in sealed glass jar for the next time and just top it off as needed. This last year Randy Oliver started recommending 90% or above alcohol or dish soap. He says the 70% does not get the mites to release as well as the 90%. Cheers

[@ChristaFree]

Powdered sugar releases them and the bees don't die.

[@benr7774]

I agree with you there Mark, don't worry about how the mites got here, try and contain them

[@ME_MeAndMyBees]

Hi Mark. Nice Video for Newbies to Varroa Mites. Just to say: Randy Oliver is also on KZbin. (Or Search Subject : him as Scientific Beekeeping.) 😏 Coming to the end of Bee Season here in Scotland. Best to get into a fairly Regular/Check(s) for any Varroa Mites... and Treat accordingly ! Randy also suggests doing several x different Treatments throughout the Bee Year. 👀 That way Varroa Mites will not become resistant to using just one type of VM Product/Treatment etc... Just saying. 😉 I do Oxalic Acid Trickle, Apiguard (Thymol) Apivar (Strip) and a Caged Queen (Brood Break.) All Subject to Rules and Regs in your Country... Some dont allow O/ATrickles, yet. So study local Vet Meds Protocol / Agri Rules etc. Doing Hive Splits (Nucs) anyone can do, no matter where you are : if you have Drone Bees (Boys) around (!) Nucs creations Interrupts the Breeding process for at least in the non Queen Box... no Eggs, no Baby Bees (with Wrigglers on their Backs !) For at least x1 Brood cycle... as they make their own New Queen Cells, New Queen, then Dates, Mates, then a further x21 Days before any Baby Bees hatch. VM have nowhere to hide or thrive ! 💥 Bonza Bees Guaranteed. Another great trick... Is to have a Mite Drop Board under your Mesh Floor. If its not White (many are coloured Correx, in Blues, Greys, Greens etc : Doh !) Get yourself some Typing Paper, slide it in, on that Board, wait for Debris to Drop :Wax Cappings, Bee body parts.... legs, wings, and eventually in x24hrs you will get OAP Mites Drop dead of old age ! (Old Age Pensioner Mites.) 😄 They are so darn Small, most of us Beeks with Veils on can't see the little so and so's. So... Get your Smart Phone, take a Photo of that White Paper....grab a Whisky to dampen your Nerves... and play that Photo Footage back on your PC that evening etc.... Any VM will be Massive ! (In size !!! Like Dinner Plates... easy to see.) And you have a Record of them that is Dated ! Win, win. 😎 Go grab your your Gear, your Smart Phone, and check for VM... and Zap the little 'darlings' !!! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2022. 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Varroa Mites are Orangey Brown, with a big Back Shell (like a Beach Crab) but with tiny legs at the top (Head) of this shell. However in normal Vision, they are about the Size of a fleck of Black Pepper from a Pepper Mill (cripes that Small.... hence use your Phone Photo Capture, to Catch them at the Crime Scene ! 🤣 And read them their Rights. NOT. 💥💥💥 And best to Check a Hives VM Status.... before Moving Frames from Hive to Hive, Combining, Selling On Hives, or Bee Equipment to other Beekeepers. 🙄 So be Varroa Mite Smart ! 😎

[@AwesomeFish12]

In QLD we've had to do mite checks 2-4 times a year for a VERY long time. They've changed the number of checks a few times over the many years, but the rest is the same. Sugar shakes or drone uncapping.

[@cassandraletton]

It's cold & wet on the Fleurieu Peninsula too! We will be checking our Bee's in the next week & hopefully we can do a hive split, before they swarm this year. (Our hive split 3 times last year (bloody newbies 🤣🙄🤐) we've learnt more this last 12 months & are prepared this year. Thanks for helping us out in our learning!

[@dcsblessedbees]

Smart to get a jump on the skills and videos.👍

[@markvreeken]

Fred Dunn suggests that the sugar shake method is just as effective. Hopefully we will never have to decide eh. Thanks for this mate

[@ChristaFree]

You can do the same with powdered sugar. A jar with a mesh lid, add a cup of bees, a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar and shake for about 30 seconds. Pour the sugar out and any mites that were on the bees will be in that sugar, albeit still alive. The sugar coating on the bees makes them lose their grip and they fall out with the sugar. No bees die and mites were removed from those bees.

[@Vydrach]

Have you considered the sticky board method for checking? Doesn't kill the bees but takes 3 days to find out the results.

[@LucasCarter2]

We don’t need anything so comprehensive, we just need to do enough that we can detect *any* mites. One mite detection is all we need to know that the hives need to be destroyed.

[@dkeithcollins]

Mark...have you chosen the treatment method you will use if and when you find mites?

[@LucasCarter2]

Treatment method would be destruction of all the hives and a lockdown of the state they’re found in.

[@alfa409]

All the very best from NZ, we have to treat, as a minimum, in Autumn and Spring. If the little bastards get stuck into your hive, they really do damage to the population in the hive, you can lose hives. easily. Hope that NSW can do the impossible and contain it!

[@NolaSpiersMitchell-gu5iu]

Some one saying thymes oil for Verowa

[@farmer998]

best advice I can give you is to stock up on the scotch lots of scotch and pray

[@thehouston141]

Kamon Reynolds has a lot of information on KZbin he does a lot of experiments on the mites

[@kathyhathaway8823]

I sure hope you all do not get these little Bastards. My hive this time was right on the border line so I am treating for them anyway. If you would enjoy getting in on our head ace I would be more than happy to send you a bottle FULL of them so you can get in on all the hair pulling out with us here in the USA . Lol haha . Nope just picking but please , please, please keep a close eye on them . Keep up on your mite checks. Thanks for your video’s. THANKS