Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DISEASE & PEST CONTROL => Topic started by: Jim134 on February 28, 2022, 06:24:58 am
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Why not use beescanning app.. From the Play Store... Yes you will need a smart phone. With Internet connection.. I know it's available for Android...
YouTube video... It will give you some tips on how to use this app.
https://youtu.be/_cpD-0T0Qbo
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I personally have never used it. I was getting ready to leave the USA.. When I found this App
BEE HAPPY Jim134 :smile:
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my daughter has a gadget phone and Im going to have her get this for a try.
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This looks interesting but according to Dr Samuel Ramsey the majority of mites hide 'beneath the bees' between platelets on the abdomen. This was brought up on one of the post, on the following listed topic some time ago.
Concentrating a search, on the top of the bees for varroa may be deceiving as far as the concern of a hopeful idea of infestation levels of by varroa mites in our bee colonies.
Search Topic: "Varroa control via capped brood removal during dearth".
Their was much discussion there by a 'few' of Beemasters 'Heavy Hitters'. Such as Van from Arkansas, AR Beekeeper, The15thMember, Robo, Absinthe, jtcmedic,TheHoneyPump, SiWolKe, beesnweeds, cao, Michael Bush, and Myself, Ben Framed (light hitter) lol
Phillip
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I believe the mites seen. Is only part of the formula. That this program uses.... Of course you can believe in you would like..
BEE HAPPY Jim134 :smile:
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Maybe their is more to the app Jim. If so I missed it in the video. The most accurate way I have seen so far, is a mite wash.. This app method might be fun, especially for the adventure of it. But if you want the best chance at accuracy, the mite wash is still the best way to go in my opinion. I still believe this... lol
Phillip
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the way I understand the app it would be like doing a sugar roll, alcohol wash, or co2 check. It would give you a percentage. I think it was 4.99 for a month. My plan if I can remember, is to see the difference when I do a check, see how long it takes, drop count vs the app.count. Out of all the techy stuff out there this looks like something I may use, and prove useful. If it works accordingly.
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Bill as I posted the following on the other topic, I feel a certain obligation to post here as well.
Bill I think this will be a fun project for you and your daughter. To be clear, I am in no way attempting to dissuade you from having the fun and fellowship of you two using this App together.
Since my short time of beekeeping along with being a member here at Beemaster, Varroa Destructor has been a 'hot' subject that continues to come back time and time again, and rightfully so. This pest IS a game changer for the beekeeping world and the beekeeper which has to deal with it. Even thought there are a few beekeepers who have 'gotten away' with not treating, (I applaud them for their success). I hope that success continues. The same can be said for the cotton farmer and the 'boll weevil'.. j/k lol...
As I said above, I think this App will be a fun project for you and your young daughter. At the same time I also feel an oblation to warn of the dangers of Varroa Destructor and the app as a 'dependable way' of mite check levels, (to anyone who might have read this topic from its 'original standpoint' and perhaps came to the conclusion of thinking this app can be depended upon for a 'reliable' indicator of when and when not to treat. Not knowing the underlying dangers of varroa which can be seen on the 'top of the bee'. Not realizing 'the real danger' of the Varroa which can not be seen 'underneath' the bee. It will be interesting to see how this progresses in your experiment of comparing the methods.
Dr Samuel Ramsey, a scientist of indisputable reputation, an expert on Varroa Destructor and its relation to the honey bee; Discovered that varroa live on 'bee fat', not 'bee blood' (Van from Arkansas 'a scientist', likened this fat in the bee as a bee liver), while the latter, 'varroa living off of 'bee blood', had been accepted incorrectly by the 'entire' scientific bee community for many years.
Dr Ramsey also 'warned' of the 'deception' of varroa which can be seen on top of the bee as 'not reliable' or not to be 'depended upon' for accuracy. Hit and miss if you will..
Therefore I am still of the opinion, if a beekeeper really wants to get a better, (maybe the best), indication of mite infection (percentage wise) in his or her hive, the alcohol wash method might still be the best avenue thus far..
For our newer beekeepers who would like to hear more about this and other finding of Dr Ramsey, I will post the video which clearly revels several needed to know facts about 'Varroa Destructor'.
Thanks,
Phillip
https://youtu.be/DK2Xi0ST4rA
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The vast majority of the mites are in the brood under caps, not visible by any means except perhaps xray. It is generally accepted that 85-95 percent of the mites in a hive are under cap. Of the mites that are not under cap, the vast majority mites that are on bees are on the underside of the abdomen wedged between plates. Those are also not visible. The visible percentage of mites is so small that by the time that mites can be seen on the backs of bees, actually visible, the numbers in the hive are so high that there is no point counting them because the hive is essentially dead the dead-bees-walking just do not know it yet.
Personally, when I see mites on the backs I consider the hive critical and terminal. At the point of mite visibility the damage is so severe the hive is unlikely to recover.
This is why the only reliable methods of monitoring mite levels are: alcohol wash which detaches the underbelly mites from the bees so they can been seen and counted. Again, this is a small percentage of the number of mites that are actually in the hive. But experience over 30 years of working bees with mites and the wash method allows us to infer how many means bad and how many means ok2good. Daily drop counts on bottom boards during treatment regimen helps to gauge effectiveness of the treatment.
Just to reaffirm; counting visible mites on backs of bees would not be an appropriate hive management tool. Because by the time mites can be counted on the backs of the bees, there is not much of a hive left to be managed.
IMHO
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Up-Date, scrapping this one.