Varroa mite: what it looks like and the best remedies for the fight, the rules for processing bees

Varroa mites are a genus of parasites that infect honey bees and their brood. This provokes the development of a dangerous pathology - varroatosis. This pathology is widespread and poses a real threat to bee colonies. To cope with the disease, it is important to take action in a timely manner. To do this, it is permissible to use chemical, physical and zootechnical methods.

Description of disease

Varroosis is one of the most common bee diseases caused by Varroa Jacobsoni mites. This pathology is considered non-infectious, but it spreads quickly and easily.

The disease affects worker bees, drones and brood. Sometimes the uterus is also affected. As a result of the development of pathology, the immunity of bees is weakened. An infected bee looks weak and restless. In addition, insect mortality is increasing.

Initially, it was believed that mites absorb the hemolymph of bees, that is, they feed on its blood. However, recent studies have shown that adipose tissue is considered the basis of Varroa nutrition. Its deficiency significantly weakens the immune system of insects. In addition, ticks carry infections.

Causes and symptoms

The main causes of the development of the disease include the following:

1. Bee theft. The disease can be brought by insects that have flown from another bee colony.
2. Increasing the colony with new frames if it contains infected individuals or brood.
3. Entering a hive with worker bees or drones after honey collection or flight. Varroa can detach from the insect and wait for a new victim for 5 days. After sticking to a new bee, the tick enters the hive.
4. Beehives in close proximity.
5. Nomadic families. In the process, he althy individuals can become infected from sick ones.
6. Purchase of infected queen, brood or bees.

Ticks accumulate more in brood. At the same time, drone brood suffers 7-15 times more than bee brood.

External symptoms of the disease can be detected only 3-4 years after infection. At the initial stages, it is difficult to detect pathology. Therefore, the beekeeper himself can spread the disease by reinforcing hives with brood frames and moving them from one hive to another. Most often, the pathology manifests itself in spring and summer.

When signs of disease appear, you can see the following:

• deformation of the limbs, abdomen, wings of bees;
• decrease in performance;
• reducing life expectancy;
• increase in waste;
• a large number of dead bees and larvae near the hive - insects themselves throw out infected individuals;
• yolk tint and rotting affected larvae.

If you place a sheet of paper at the bottom of the hive, you will be able to see ticks that literally fall off the bees.

There are 3 stages of the disease:

• weak - up to 10% defeat;
• medium - 10-20% loss;
• strong - more than 20% defeat.

If more than a tenth of the bee colony is affected, urgent intervention will be required. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing all insects.

Ways to combat varroatosis

There are no biological methods to combat varroatosis. Ticks do not have diseases or enemies in nature. The only option to control the number of parasites is the removal of the affected drone brood. Also, to combat the disease, it is worth using physical, chemical and zootechnical methods. In addition, there are many effective folk recipes.

Chemical Methods

These methods involve the use of various chemicals that need to process bee colonies. Under the influence of various substances, parasites die or crumble. Most often, autumn processing of bees from varroatosis is carried out.

The main disadvantage of such funds is that they have no effect on parasites trapped in the sealed brood. Another disadvantage is the negative effect of chemicals on the reproductive system of the uterus.

The bulk of these drugs include amitraz or fluvalinate. They are systemic acaricides. Amitraz is present in such products as Bipin, Varropol, Varroadez. Fluvalinate is part of Apifin, Apistan, Fumisan.

Means for varroatosis differ in different forms of release. It can be an aqueous solution or a strip of wood or impregnated polymer.

Physical methods

Such methods do not work in the fight against mites that have entered the sealed brood. In other situations, it is permissible to use the following methods:

1. Thermal. Such processing is of a short-term nature and implies a temperature effect. In this case, the parameters +43-46 degrees are applied. Under the influence of elevated temperatures, ticks die and crumble. However, this method can lead to the death of the queen and worker bees.Therefore, it is used very rarely.
2. Magnetic. To implement this method, strong paired magnets are required. They need to be placed in the zone of movement of bees - in the area of the notch, subframe space and arrival board. When bees enter the zone of action of magnets, mites fall off them. To prevent the parasites from returning to the hive, you need to use mechanical traps. For this, mesh pallets covered with paper are used. Apply oil or Vaseline to it.

Zootechnical methods

A common method of eliminating varroatosis is the fight against drone brood. In summer, 85% of ticks get there. At the same time, it is required to put a frame with a small strip of foundation near the young bee brood.The bees will fill it with drone cells, and the queen will subsequently sow them.

After sealing the cells, it is recommended to remove the frame and place it in hot water with a temperature of +55 degrees for 3 hours. This will ensure the death of the parasites. Then the caps can be printed and framed in the hive. The dead larvae will become protein food for the bees. However, the frame may not be returned. In this case, its contents are shaken out and destroyed. If a frame is needed, it is worth treating it with acetic acid.

Folk remedies

To eliminate the disease, you can resort to folk remedies. For this purpose, it is permissible to use a 10% solution of lactic acid, which needs to be sprinkled with frames with bees. It is recommended to do this at temperatures above +14 degrees. For 1 frame, on average, you need to use 10 milliliters of solution.

Fresh thyme is considered no less effective.It needs to be crushed, placed in gauze and covered with a film. Every 3 days you need to change the dried mass for fresh raw materials. This method can be used throughout the season. However, it will have no effect at temperatures over +27 degrees.

Possible consequences

At the initial stage, this disease has an asymptomatic course. If the defeat is more than 10%, urgent measures are required. Ticks are very harmful to bees. They almost completely destroy the brood and make insects unproductive. Drone parasites deprive the ability to fertilize. In addition, mites carry infections and provoke serious stress in bee colonies.

Prevention

To avoid infecting bees with mites, you need to follow these rules:

1. Place apiaries in the growth zones of certain plants. These include nettle, oregano, elderberry, mint, celandine, wild rosemary.
2. Periodically remove printed drone brood from builder frames.
3. Use top dressing with cob alt s alts, acaricides, dietary supplements.

Varroa mites pose a serious threat to bees. To prevent these parasites from harming bee colonies, it is important to prevent varroatosis. If signs of illness appear, immediate action must be taken.

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