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Varroa tester, original model
€ 62,95
The original varroa tester (European produced) for easily calculating the number of varroa mites in a bee colony. How does the varroa tester work and how do I calculate the number of mites in the bee colony? Shake approximately 200 bees into the tester. This is about 25 grams or half a teacup. Then you make the bees and mites unconscious with CO2 and gently shake the cup. This causes the mites to detach from the bees. These will fall through the mesh into the other compartment of the varroa tester. Now the mites can be easily counted. The fastest way to calculate the infestation level in the colony is to divide the number of mites by the number of bees. So 10 mites from 200 bees 10/200= 0.05 means 5% varroa mite infestation in the colony. Treatment is recommended from 5%. This calculation can also be used for the powdered sugar method. Scroll further down for a step-by-step plan and the calculation to determine the total number of varroa mites in the colony.
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Varroa tester instruction guide
- Collect half a teacup of bees from a colony (25 grams) - this is up to the red line on the varroa tester
- Spray CO2 into the cup for 4 to 6 seconds and wait 10 seconds
- Gently shake the bees
- Count the mites and divide this number by 200. This gives the percentage. Example: 10 mites / 200 bees = 0.05 = 5% varroa infestation. If you have an infestation < 5%, you don't need to treat; if the infestation is > 5%, then treat the colony.
You can also calculate how many absolute mites are in the colony. Do this by multiplying the estimated number of bees (A) by the number of mites (B) and dividing by the number of collected bees (200)(C). Example: number of mites in colony = (AxB)/C. These represent approximately 20% of the bees in the colony. Multiply this number by 5 to determine the total number of mites in the colony.