Are your Varroa mites under control? Our monitoring visits include 8 field Varroa mite washes and bee health assessments per yard. We can also collect Nosema, virus and pesticide samples to be processed at the lab if requested. We collect colony data on diseases, pests, population size and weight, then we provide a concise report showing your data in an easy-to-read format. Lastly, when requested, we will meet with you for a post visit consultation.
- Deliverables
- Data is collected and organized into an easy-to-read report and sent to you within 24 hours. When requested we offer a phone consultation to review your data and to discuss best management practices for your operation going forward. The report contains the following data for each yard visited:
- Diseases/Pests: Varroa, chalkbrood, EFB, AFB, parasitic mite syndrome (PMS), deformed wing virus (DMV), small hive beetle, wax moth.
- Observations: Bald brood, chewed down brood, melted down larvae, colony population (FOB), colony weight (when requested).
- Management Advice: When requested we offer a phone consultation at no additional cost to discuss best management practices for your operation based on the bee health data collected. - Methodology
- Monitoring visits take around 1 to 2 hours per yard. For a representative sample, we complete a full health assessment on 8 colonies per yard including field Varroa mite washes.
- How to Prepare
- - Choose Yards: Choose two or more yards for the Bee Health Hub field specialists to visit.
- Monitoring trends: We monitor trends by visiting the same yards (and colonies) throughout the year. This allows us to determine, for example, if your Nosema loads are lower or higher than the last visit.
- Monitoring treatment efficacy: We monitor treatment efficacy by visiting yards after the beekeeper has applied treatments. We usually visit the yard 10 - 14 days after the last treatment application, but the timing can vary depending on the treatments. - Pricing
- Visit the services page for the current pricing range. The cost for monitoring visits are per yard and agreed upon on a case-to-case basis beforehand. Factors that affect price per yard include:
- Yard Locations: Proximity of yards from Davis or Chico, CA. Proximity of yards from each other.
- Crew support: Beekeeper may send crew to get additional yards visited and to save on cost.
- Lodging: Lodging is included in agreed upon price per yard but may increase the cost for visits that incur several hours of driving or multiple days.