New!

We have just recieved a shipment of varroa mite sticky board kits from America. 

Natural mite drop is a commonly used method of varroa mite surveillance. A sticky mat test is less invasive than a sugar shake or alcohol shake, and if you have a mesh bottom board you don't need to open the hive. In the United States, this test is used to determine 'mite load' (the grid printed on the paper facilitates this). American beekeepers use this test to determine whether a miticide treatment is needed. For the moment in Australia, this test is simply an invaluable way of simply determining whether there is varroa present in your hive. 

You can detect varroa mite in the hive by placing the sticky mat at the bottom of the hive. If you have a mesh bottom base, place the sticky mat in the plastic tray. If you are using a traditional base, you place the mat on the bottom board and put the mesh screen over the top. The mesh screen stops the bees' legs from catching on the sticky paper and also prevents them from cleaning away any mites that happen to get caught on the paper.

• Simply peel the cover paper from the adhesive board, place the mesh screen over the adhesive board (if needed), and place the sticky mat at the bottom of the hive
• Works with either a mesh bottom base or traditional bottom board
• Suitable for a 10-frame hive: can be trimmed down to suit an 8-frame hive
• Dimension of Sticky Mat: 333x445
• Dimension of Mesh: 300x425
• Made by Dadant & Sons: family owned since 1863
• Please see here and here for more information.