Varroa Action Plan
Newfoundland and Labrador is currently free of the highly destructive Varroa destructor mite. Maintaining this status will be a major challenge!
The Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association released A Varroa Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador on September 21, 2020. It recommended measures to prevent the arrival and establishment of the mite in the province. For more information, click here: https://www.nlbeekeeping.com/varroa-action-plan
Here's a number of audio recordings of Poppy Peter's Varroa conversations with beekeepers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. They are presented here with permission.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating
Newfoundland and Labrador is not prepared for Varroa. Read more...
Varroa conversations with beekeepers
Bob Darrell, Ontario, 22 July 2019
David Elkner, New Jersey, 21 July 2019
Dick Cryberg, Ohio, 4 October 2019
Frank Lindsay, New Zealand, 1 August 2019
Heather Clay, B.C., 10 December 2019
Janet Wilson, B.C., 23 July 2019
Peter Keating, Quebec, 11 July 2019
Stephanie Taylor, B.C./New Zealand, 19 December 2019
Tony Phillips, Nova Scotia, 12 August 2019
Trevor Weatherhead, Australia, 18 July 2019
Varroa monitoring methods
In October 2020, the Newfoundland and Labrador Beekeeping Association sponsored a series of workshops across the Island of Newfoundland to explain the basics of monitoring for Varroa destructor. Provincial bee inspectors from New Brunswick, Mary and Fletcher Colpitts, were the workshop instructors.
Funding for the workshops was made possible thanks to a grant from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership - Newfoundland and Labrador program.
3. This video explains the basics of monitoring for Varroa using the sugar shake method. https://youtu.be/D3BKGsrYH_Q