Evaluation of early spring bio-technical management techniques to control varroosis in Apis mellifera
2019
Lodesani, Marco | Franceschetti, Simone | Dall’Ollio, Raffaele
More than 30 years after the first infestation report on Apis mellifera, varroa mites are still damaging honey bee health. The present paper reports data from a field experiment concerning two early spring (late February) bio-technical management techniques: early brood interruption (through queen caging) and early trapping comb (through the use of a single trapping comb). The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of both techniques on colony development, mite population growth and honey production during the 6 months following the treatments. We observed that the early season queen handling and technical management of the colonies were able to affect mite reproduction resulting in a lower infestation rate, especially in the brood interruption group, while not causing any repercussion on the honey harvest and seasonal colony development and performance.
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