It's Time to Count Your Mites!

It's Ontario's Varroa Mite Awareness Campaign 2019, sponsored by OAHN (Ontario Animal Health Network), the OBA and OMAFRA. 

Between September - October, all beekeepers in Ontario are asked to check their Varroa levels in their hives and report their results. All data remain confidential and will only be reported in aggregate in order to understand varroa mite patterns and treatment effectiveness across the province and to compare to last year's results.

The survey is very easy to complete and will take only a couple of minutes. Beekeepers will be asked to identify:

• the week that mites were counted
• the county, township or municipality where hives are located
• size of their beekeeping operation, 
• method used to count varroa,
• method used to treat varroa.

Survey participants qualify to be entered in the Campaign prize draw.

Resources: 

Introduction to Varroa Monitoring, featuring Provincial Apiarist Paul Kozak and UofG post-doc Dr. Nuria Morfin.

Mite Monitoring Videos:

• Varroa Population Dynamics
• Varroa Monitoring: Screen Bottom Board | Sticky Paper method
• Varroa Monitoring: Alcohol Wash method