It seems that every beekeeping group has its own way to monitor Varroa mites. I keep hearing variations on the sugar shake (or sugar roll), the alcohol wash, and the soap bath. But one thing remains constant: most hobby beekeepers don’t want to kill bees in order to count mites. The powdered sugar shake does […] Read more
Every year at about this time, new beekeepers overwhelm the social media with claims they can save the honey bee (and the world) with copious applications of powdered sugar. The onslaught is as predictable as the tide and just as insistent. I actually feel sorry for them. If they ever really studied the Varroa life […] Read more
This is a question I’d rather sidestep, but it keeps insinuating itself into my inbox. So I’ve finally decided to take a quick stab at this complex (and oftentimes heated) debate. The theory behind powdered sugar dusting is that the bees will groom the sugar off themselves and the hapless mites will drop from the […] Read more