An Alternative material for monitoring varroa mites’ infestation in honeybees’ colonies
Abstract
Varroa mites (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) are ectoparasites of honeybees. Different approaches are engaged in varroa mites’ surveillance in different regions. The study focused on alternative material for monitoring varroa mites’ infestation in honeybees’ colonies. The efficacy of wood ashes dusting method was compared with 70% alcohol wash and icing sugar dusting methods. The order of efficacies of recovery of varroa from the external bodies of honeybees by the three methods is 70% alcohol (38%) ˃ wood ashes (33%) ˃ icing sugar (29%). There was no significant difference in the mean population of varroa mites recovered by the three methods. Although from this study, 70% alcohol shows better percentage (38%), but wood ashes method (33%) could be an alternative to either 70% alcohol wash or icing sugar methods (29%).
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References
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