Comb size weapon in varroa mite fight

The Government is paying for research to find a sustainable and non-chemical method way of reducing varroa mite populations to the point where they are no longer a threat to bee health.

The South Canterbury branch of the National Beekeepers Association has won $48,000 from the new sustainable-farming fund to investigate whether the size of comb cells within hive foundations affect the mite's ability to breed.

In the 1930s, the American hive manufacturers increased comb cell sizes from 5mm to 5.4mm, reasoning that this would increase bee sizes and therefore the amount they could carry. It was about this time the mite jumped species from the Asian to the Italian honey bee.

Branch president Peter Lyttle said an Arizona apiarist controlled the mite by reducing the cell size to 4.9mm. The New Zealand research will test cells at four sizes from 5.4mm down to 4.8mm.

Mr Lyttle said the mites were known to prefer larger cells, so reducing their size could reduce the varroa mite population to the point where it no longer threatened the health of the hive.

The research, expected to take two years, will be contracted to HortResearch at Ruakura, near Hamilton.

- NZPA


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