Varroa 3-in-1 Tester Deluxe

Deluxe Varroa tester in a transparent model that lets you perform 3 tests:

• Varroa infestation level in your colony
• Colony hygiene
• Varroa resistance to treatments

Test 1

- Collect about 300 bees in the middle section of the Varroa tester and screw on the top section to keep the bees from escaping.
- Fill the bottom section with one tablespoon of powdered sugar and fasten it to the other two sections.
- Shake the entire Varroa tester for 1-2 minutes and make sure all the sugar falls back into the bottom section. The mites will drop down with it.
- Unscrew the bottom section and add water to dissolve the powdered sugar. The mites float on the water and are easy to count.

With 0-3 mites you have a low infestation, 3-10 mites a medium infestation, and 10+ mites a high infestation.

Test 2

- Use the tester’s prongs to pierce 10-15-day-old brood from a brood box.
- Make sure the brood is damaged by pricking 2 to 3 times. You only need to pierce the brood in one spot (the same size as the prongs).
- The bees will clean the cells; if after 6 hours 70%, after 8 hours 90%, and after one day 100% of the cells are cleaned, your colony shows good hygienic behavior.

Test 3

This test is for the same hive as used for test 1.

- Fill the middle section of the tester with about 150 bees collected from a brood box. Close it with the top section of the tester.
- Attach an oxalic acid–soaked strip (art. 2772) to the container holding the bees.
- Place the container with the strip at the top in a dark room at room temperature and wait 6 hours.
- Then remove the strip and shake the container several times over white paper.

The mites are not resistant to the given treatment if the mite count is greater than 1/4 of the result from test 1.