The question
Does placing VarroxSan strips horizontally on top of brood frames change Varroa control compared with the labeled placement between brood frames?
24colonies
2apiaries
42days
≈300bees per wash
The design
Eight colonies received labeled placement, eight received top-of-frame placement, and eight served as untreated controls. Varroa infestation was measured before and after treatment with alcohol washes.
Results
Average mites per 100 adult bees before and after the 42-day study.
GroupBeforeAfterChange
Label placementBetween brood frames0.420.38−0.04
Top placementOn top of brood frames0.250.63+0.38
Untreated controlNo VarroxSan0.291.67+1.38
PLAIN-ENGLISH TAKEAWAY
Treated colonies experienced substantially less Varroa population growth than untreated controls.
None of the 16 VarroxSan-treated colonies finished at or above 2 mites per 100 bees, compared with five of eight untreated controls. Label placement finished numerically lower than top placement, but the difference between the two VarroxSan placement methods was not statistically significant. This study therefore did not establish that one placement method was superior.
Study limitations: each group contained only eight colonies and many colonies began with low mite levels. The study covered one 42-day summer treatment period, so larger studies would be needed to determine whether the observed numerical placement difference represents a true placement effect.
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