Extension Report Summer 2009

摘要

Varroa levels - Varroa mites are killing colonies and reducing honey production in some Manitoba operations. The cool spring and persistently high varroa pressures have made keeping bees healthy more difficult than ever it seems, and the lab numbers highlight the struggle. Fig. 1 shows the preliminary lab sample varroa results for 2009 (up to June 19,2009) along with the final levels for 2004-2008. Last year we saw the % of samples with higher than 1% varroa mite increase from 22% in 2007 to 43% in 2008. That was a huge jump. Early numbers for 2009 show a further increase to 50% of samples with more than 1% varroa levels (based on 237 samples as of June 19,2009); that's 1 out of every 2 samples! Since we're still processing samples, the final varroa numbers for 2009 will be summarized in a later newsletter.