Oh that is a very late answer. We are sorry that your message went under our radar. Since we published this video (a while ago now) it appeared that diluting the alcohol is not the best thing to do. Using it pure works even better. And after additional field testings, we also found out that using the VEC with sugar is also possible, if you reverse the basket: ua-cam.com/video/2IqH5Cc9wfg/v-deo.html Hope it helps!
Hi Abitibi. You will be happy to learn that we found a way to use the Varroa EasyCheck with sugar (ua-cam.com/video/2IqH5Cc9wfg/v-deo.html) and CO2 (ua-cam.com/video/0xxeNHFM74o/v-deo.html), both methods leaving the sample of bees alive. Have a good day!
Hi Sara. We know it can be disturbing at first sight, but you have to put it in perspective. If you do not perform an accurate mite infestation follow-up, you can loose your colony by an overload of varroa mites. And as of today, alcohol wash is still the quickest and most accurate method to have a reliable count. So you have to consider alcohol monitoring as a blood test, and see the colony as a supergorganism: you take a sample to make a diagnosis that will benefit the whole organism. The "sacrifice" of 200 to 300 bees can be frightening at first, but you have to put it into perspective: - A limited loss of bees during the season has little impact in a colony that typically counts between 20,000 and 35,000 individuals. - The queen can lay more than 2,000 eggs per day (at the egg-laying peak). - The sample collected represents less than 1% of the total population of the hive, and the bees will be renewed rapidly. Hope it helps you better figure out the purpose of EasyCheck. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Hi Sara! You will be happy to learn that we found a way to use the Varroa EasyCheck with sugar (ua-cam.com/video/2IqH5Cc9wfg/v-deo.html) and CO2 (ua-cam.com/video/0xxeNHFM74o/v-deo.html), both methods leaving the sample of bees alive. Have a good day!
2:04 Why does the alcohol need to be diluted with water to a 1:4 ratio? Thanks!
Oh that is a very late answer. We are sorry that your message went under our radar. Since we published this video (a while ago now) it appeared that diluting the alcohol is not the best thing to do. Using it pure works even better. And after additional field testings, we also found out that using the VEC with sugar is also possible, if you reverse the basket: ua-cam.com/video/2IqH5Cc9wfg/v-deo.html
Hope it helps!
r.i.p bee's 😭 🤷♂️ i dont think we have these here.
Hi Abitibi. You will be happy to learn that we found a way to use the Varroa EasyCheck with sugar (ua-cam.com/video/2IqH5Cc9wfg/v-deo.html) and CO2 (ua-cam.com/video/0xxeNHFM74o/v-deo.html), both methods leaving the sample of bees alive. Have a good day!
this is horrible! the bees die!
Hi Sara. We know it can be disturbing at first sight, but you have to put it in perspective. If you do not perform an accurate mite infestation follow-up, you can loose your colony by an overload of varroa mites. And as of today, alcohol wash is still the quickest and most accurate method to have a reliable count. So you have to consider alcohol monitoring as a blood test, and see the colony as a supergorganism: you take a sample to make a diagnosis that will benefit the whole organism.
The "sacrifice" of 200 to 300 bees can be frightening at first, but you have to put it into perspective:
- A limited loss of bees during the season has little impact in a colony that typically counts between 20,000 and 35,000 individuals.
- The queen can lay more than 2,000 eggs per day (at the egg-laying peak).
- The sample collected represents less than 1% of the total population of the hive, and the bees will be renewed rapidly.
Hope it helps you better figure out the purpose of EasyCheck. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Queens can lay between 1000 and 1500 eggs a day, sacrificing 300 bees for the betterment of the colony overall is worthwhile.
It's better to sacrifice 300 to save the rest. If Varroa gets too high in the colony the colony will collapse
Hi Sara! You will be happy to learn that we found a way to use the Varroa EasyCheck with sugar (ua-cam.com/video/2IqH5Cc9wfg/v-deo.html) and CO2 (ua-cam.com/video/0xxeNHFM74o/v-deo.html), both methods leaving the sample of bees alive. Have a good day!