Frame Guide › Pests & poisoning
Healthy Colony, Low Mite Count: what it looks like on the frame
Late June · an alcohol wash of 300 bees turned up 2 mites.
Solid worker brood, a normal band of drone comb, and a wash under 1 mite per 100 bees. Every colony has some mites — they favour drone brood, which is why the one you spotted is down there. The question is always the number, and this one is low.
Keep washing every month or so — no treatment yet
Below the usual summer threshold of about 2–3 per 100, treating wastes money and helps mites build resistance. But mite numbers roughly double every month while there's brood, so a low June count can be a problem by August. Keep washing.
Easy to mistake for
- Varroa Mites & Deformed Wing VirusAugust · your alcohol wash came back at 9 mites per 100 bees.
- Drone-Laying QueenQueen is present, but the brood looks bumpy and raised all over.
- Chilled BroodYou went through this hive on a windy 48°F day and took your time.
Could you spot this with the lid off?
Read the Frame deals you 8 random frames. Say what you see, say what you'd do, and find out why. It's free and runs on your phone.
Drill pests & poisoning → Mixed round (all 32 frames) →More pests & poisoning
- Varroa Mites & Deformed Wing VirusAugust · your alcohol wash came back at 9 mites per 100 bees.
- Wax Moth DamageThe outside frames of a colony that's been dwindling for a month.
- Small Hive Beetle Slime-OutHot, humid August. The box smells fermented, like rotting oranges.
- RobbingLate August dearth. Bees wrestling on the landing board.
- Bald BroodJune · a good colony, but these lines of open cells caught your eye.
- Pesticide PoisoningA field next door was sprayed in bloom yesterday. Piles of dead bees out front today.
These frames are drawn to teach the pattern, and real frames vary. From The Alleman Apiary in Middletown, PA.