Rational Varroa Control

Bedfordshire Beekeepers Association

Upgrade and refresh your knowledge with this  scientific and practical approach to controlling varroa

We are excited to have Professor David Evans back to BedsBKA for another fun talk!Varroa remains the greatest threat to bees and beekeeping. The mite, and the viruses it transmits, are responsible for most overwintering colony losses. To avoid these mite levels must be minimised. This presentation discusses some of the science behind why Varroa and viruses are a threat to our bees before moving on to practical beekeeping considerations including how and when to control Varroa in your hives. Many beekeepers treat at the wrong time of the season, or use the wrong treatment, for maximal effect. In addition to a late summer and midwinter treatment (which should be all that are needed for successful Varroa management) the opportunities to treat in the middle of the season, the importance of managing Varroa in swarms and the strategic, landscape-scale, management of Varroa are also discussed.David Evans (The Apiarist https://theapiarist.org)David Evans is Emeritus Professor of Virology in the School of Biology, University of St. Andrews. His research interests included the replication and evolution of human and animal viruses, and the biology and control of both Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) of honey bees.Research topics include:- mechanisms and consequences of recombination in RNA viruses- replication of DWV in honey bees, Varroa and non-Apis pollinators- rational Varroa control at the landscape scale- the biology of CBPV, an emerging pathogen of honey beesStudies of honey bee viruses involved collaborations with groups in the Universities of Aberdeen (Alan Bowman) and Newcastle (Giles Budge), with the Science and Advice Service for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), and with several beekeeping associations.David held previous academic positions at the Universities of Reading, Glasgow and Warwick, conducting research on HIV, HCV and poliovirus with extensive grant support from UK Research Councils and charities. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications and supervised more than 30 PhD. students.David is an enthusiastic beekeeper – an activity that pre-dates his research on honey bee viruses by several years – and a member of Fife Beekeepers, the East of Scotland BKA and Lochaber BKA. He runs about twenty colonies and is particularly interested in queen rearing and ‘pottering in the shed with bits of wood and a nail gun’.David has a personal beekeeping website 'The Apiarist'. On this he covers topics as diverse as Varroa management, responsible mentoring, the price of honey and practical waspkeeping. New posts appear every Friday afternoon and he regularly discusses recent scientific advances on the biology of honey bees. The popularity of the website has resulted in numerous invitations to talk at local, national and international beekeeping meetings.David now lives on the remote west coast of Scotland in one of the few remaining parts of mainland UK that is Varroa free.

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Rational Varroa Control

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