Intro to the new YouTube video on doing sugar rolls

Even when the thermometer is setting new records, it’s time to be thinking about your bees and the coming winter. Although hive wraps, winter ventilation, and having enough food in the colony are all important, the single most critical thing for ensuring winter survival is keeping your bees from being harmed by varroa mites.

Successful control of mites begins half a year ahead of time. Now is the time when you need to be checking on your mite levels to make sure your treatment plans are still on track.

One of the best ways to check for mites is the sugar roll method as designed by the Michigan State Cooperative Extension. This method provides a high degree of accuracy in the results as well as leaving the tested bees alive at the end of the test. Although a hive can easily withstand the monthly loss of the 300 bees being tested, many beekeepers are reluctant to kill the bees. The result is that they avoid doing any testing at all.

The Michigan sugar roll method solves that problem. We’ve updated it with a few extra tips to make it even easier and made a YouTube video so you can watch and learn how to do it.. For written instructions, check out this article. To watch the YouTube, click here.