varroa diagnosis lattice

Varroa Tester

If in doubt if your bees have many varroa mites, then this is the solution.

You catch 200 bees from the broodframe (avoid catching the queen).

Then you anesthetize them with CO2 gas. After 10-20 seconds shake the varroa counter for 10 seconds.

The varroa mites are also affected by the anesthetic and will fall off the bees.
So they are easy to count and it's easy to evaluate the number of mites in your hive.

The anesthetized bees will wake up after a short while and returned into the hive.

Easy and simple and gentle on the bees.

Incl. CO2 dosing arrangement with 2 x 16 gram CO2 bottles (enough for up to 12 tests). TIP: use the CO2 dispenser gently in the beginning, since the bottle is under high pressure.