Best/Cheapest Sticky Board Coating?

[jbford]

Vaseline mixed with canola oil works fine but is pretty expensive.

Crisco mixed with oil does not seem to trap the pests as well.

Any recipes that will not break the bank?

(we have hots of SHB so an open bottom is not really an option.)

thanks

[AR Beekeeper]

I use the canola oil alone and it traps varroa OK., if the ants start eating the oil before I can do the mite counts I change to mineral oil.

Are you comming to the State Meeting here in Mountain View on Oct. 9 & 10?

[bfriendly]

I would suggest trying clear contact paper (sticky side up) to see how you like it. I only do spot checks periodically, so I am not the one to ask about long term 'stickyness' but it makes it cheap and easy and not so messy. Not all brands are created equal, try a few before you write it off. Not sure that it always "catches" them all..but it is ~really~ nice because you can easily place over a grid for standard counts.

cheers

[Hambone]

Political signs and pam.

[indypartridge]

I use generic/store-brand cooking spray.

[Ski]

I use a generic brand of petroleum jelly 13 oz for $3.50 and I expect it to do about 40 sticky boards. A light coating seems to hold the mites in place and the ants don't seem to bother it like pam spray. When I used Pam spray the ants seemed to like it and they also carried some mites away, so much for a count.

[Dave W]

Only a small percentage of mites falling onto ANY sticky board is alive. (Thats why SBB by themself do NOT provide much, if any, mite control.) Most are dead.
Dont be overly concerned about "holding" mites, just do COUNTS, so you "know" when its time to treat.

Whole SB doesnt need to be sticky, just a soild "ring" of P-jelly (made w/ finger) around the edges will catch any crawling away.

[hummingberd]

cooking spray or crisco. You can get the crap in vats at whole sale places or sam's club...

:D

[jbford]

mites are not my main concern. catching beetles is. i have had as many as ten per day caught in the goo. the hive beetles are my new worst enemy.

[oldenglish]

You should check out the freeman beetle trap, as described by this beekeeper. http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/

[dragonfly]

I just use the cheap off-brand cooking spray (equivalent of Pam). Easy to apply, and easy to clean off for re-application.

[BoBn]

Only a small percentage of mites falling onto ANY sticky board is alive. (Thats why SBB by themself do NOT provide much, if any, mite control.) Most are dead.


I find that more than 1/2 of the mites that drop on my boards are alive. I don't put any "sticky" material on the boards and I don't count the empty shells. More than 1/4 of the total mites that I see have been physically damaged. I don't assume that the screen and board are a control system, but they are a valuable monitoring system. Don't assume the mites that don't move are dead.

In late summer, when the mite count increases, it seems that there is a higher percentage of damaged mites. Maybe grooming increases?

I often see mite grooming on the front of the hive. It looks like 2 or 3 bees wrestling. If you look closely, you can see them struggling to remove a mite from a bee. It can take a long time. I was curious and timed one event. It took about 12 minutes for 2 bees to assist another bee to remove a mite. Even then, she may not have been destroyed.

I have caught some drones and found some mites on them (actually, my youngest kid started this by catching a couple drones and asking me about the bumps on them).

So, I tried picking the mites off the drones with my pocket knife. Have you tried this? Every time you manage to pry them loose, those little buggers quickly move to a new spot and hunker down.
:ot:
History repeats itself. The varroa mite situation is not unique. The Colorado Potato Beetle was living on wild jimsonweed and jumped over to potatoes. The Boll Weevil is the same story. European sawfly, flyspeck fungus, apple scab, potato scab, Turnip root maggots, wheat smut, butternut canker, etc,etc,etc are all the same.

[HVH]

I would think making an emulsion of your darkest wax and some mineral oil would work very well. It is really easy to make, cheap, and a good way to get rid of your worst wax chunks. If you are really cheap, you can scrape, remelt, filter and reapply.

[Ski]

Hey hummingberd,
I guess there are no problems with SHB up in Maine and I am not sure about Arkansas but Crisco attracts SHB down here and it has only been recommended for use in the Fatbeeman political sign beetle traps. But then again for a 24 hour mite count it may not make any difference. Might even catch a few shb. Well I think you convinced me.

[Dave W]

>1/2 of the mites that drop on my boards are alive . . .
Published data from other researchers have demonstrated about only 12-15% are alive when doing a "NATURAL FALL" count.

If something is causing the mite drop for an "Assisted Fall", the ratio might be higher.