Testing for Mites Using Powdered Sugar

[@evaldes3698]

What kind of gloves are those? Also what kind of powdered sugar do you use? Can you use the stuff from the store?

[@deanabossio3091]

Just curious as to why not already have the powdered sugar in the jar before you put the bees in? I plan on using this kind of test instead of the alcohol.

[@michaelgrant4448]

So you found 7 mites. At what level would you start treatment???. What is an acceptable level per 300 bee sample

[@jothebeechick3187]

You really want your mite count 2 or less. So these need to be treated. You might could live with 3.

[@dasnakemanconrod5776]

​@@jothebeechick3187you mite could 😉

[@davegolden8766]

Excellent video, thanks. How does this count (7-mites) translate into a percentage infection? Using simple arithmetic, I come up with 2.3 % infection in a 300 bee sample. At what rate is there a significant problem?

[@normanwells2755]

Another 10 seconds of video and they could have answered he question most people were thinking.

[@marksachs4706]

good video. very humane and gentle way to test.

[@rickwarner9142]

Thank you Hanna I’m going go back over this till I not only feel comfortable doing this but use your words from memory to teach veterans again thank you

[@stevenwhite3.1415]

Hell, why not take your whole bee population and bounce them around in powdered sugar. Youd give them a little food boost and eliminate the mites.

[@6stringbendr]

I have heard similar comments on sugar roll vs alcohol wash as I saw below. Humid areas make this test somewhat skewed. Has anyone done a study in a high humidity environment where you would sugar roll the initial sample and count mites, then alcohol wash them to see if there is some ratio of mites that might be missed in the sugar roll. This might help establish some level of confidence in one test over the other. I would rather sugar roll however being in a high humidity area, I don't want to underestimate my potential mite infestation.

[@kellyyochum9723]

Alcohol is the most accurate.

[@adamsmithson486]

Pozdrawiam serdecznie i życzę miłego dnia

[@wades_world22]

Awesome video! Thank you for a great demonstration 👍

[@mrsk7384]

Sorry I thought I was sharing your information with another new bee keeper

[@bonafidebubblebee2880]

Thank you! How long do you wait before you rerelease your sugared bees. I would imagine they would be very angry 😵

[@jothebeechick3187]

I put them back in after I get my count. I just sprinkle them back over the brood frame and they are good to go. Sisters like to clean them up. :)

[@ZachGelnett]

Thank you for doing this. I saw someone doing this test but without an explanation so I wanted to know more. By the way, is your assistant Bill Murray?

[@mrsk7384]

I saw a different method to check for mites without killing the bees use 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar and a scoop of the bees shake the bees till all covered shake the powder sugar out and if they have mites you’ll see them in the sugar

[@peachesjackofski8363]

Isn’t that exactly what she did?

[@dasnakemanconrod5776]

Hes not the brightest pea in the pod😅​@@peachesjackofski8363

[@CNBarnes]

A sugar shake test can give VERY bad results - especially in locales with high humidity. Just as a test, I did a side-by-side test of the same hive, using sugar shake vs alcohol wash. The sugar shake give a result of 2 mites per 300 bees; the alcohol wash showed 18 mites per 300 bees. Testing w/ powdered sugar is a waste of time.

[@saleem801]

what method is used to estimate the number of bees? is it based on the number of frames?