Paper sticky boards coated with petroleum jelly function as precision physical capture tools placed at the bottom of a beehive. They collect Varroa mites that fall due to natural mortality or chemical treatments, securing them in an adhesive layer to prevent displacement and ensure accurate mortality statistics.
Core Insight: The effectiveness of this tool relies on the combination of a high-contrast background for visibility and a viscous adhesive (petroleum jelly) that acts as a stasis field—locking mites in place against hive vibrations, airflow, and scavenger interference to preserve the integrity of your data.
Ensuring Sample Retention
To obtain reliable data, you must prevent the loss of the sample after it leaves the bee.
Counteracting Hive Dynamics
The internal environment of a hive is chaotic. Colony vibrations and strong, fan-driven airflow generated by worker bees can easily blow lightweight mite carcasses out of the hive.
The petroleum jelly layer creates an immediate anchor. It fixes the fallen mites in place, neutralizing the physical forces that would otherwise scatter your statistical sample.
preventing Re-Infection
Not all falling mites are dead. Live mites that are dislodged during grooming or treatments often attempt to crawl back up into the colony.
The adhesive nature of the board traps these live parasites. This prevents them from climbing back onto host bees, effectively breaking their lifecycle and stopping re-infection.
Facilitating Accurate Assessment
Collecting the sample is only half the battle; you must also be able to analyze it quickly and accurately.
High-Contrast Visualization
White paper or cardboard acts as a high-contrast carrier.
Varroa mites are reddish-brown. Against the bright white background of the board, they are instantly visible. This allows technical personnel to rapidly identify and count samples without the need for complex optical equipment.
Preserving Sample Integrity
Petroleum jelly is semi-solid and non-drying. Unlike some glues that might degrade or dry out in the heat of a hive, this substance keeps the sample intact.
This preservation is critical for advanced analysis, such as identifying damage categories or assessing the grooming effectiveness of the bees based on the condition of the mite's shell.
Protecting Data Against Scavengers
One of the greatest threats to accurate monitoring is biological loss caused by other insects.
The Anti-Scavenger Barrier
Scavenger insects, particularly ants, are attracted to the protein in dead mites. Without a sticky barrier, ants will carry away the mites before you can count them.
The petroleum jelly acts as a physical deterrent. It prevents ants from accessing the board and consuming the samples, ensuring your weekly statistical data reflects the true fall rate rather than a scavenged remnant.
Understanding the Trade-offs
While effective, this method requires specific implementation to be safe and useful.
The Requirement of Screening
You cannot place a sticky board directly on the floor of a hive where bees walk. The adhesive would trap and kill worker bees.
These boards must be used in conjunction with a wire mesh or screened bottom board. This allows mites to fall through while keeping the bees safely separated from the petroleum jelly.
Correlation vs. Absolute Count
Sticky boards measure mite fall, not the total population on the bees.
While this provides excellent trend data and mortality statistics, it is a proxy measurement. A high drop count indicates a high load, but it requires interpretation to estimate the exact infestation percentage compared to methods like an alcohol wash.
Making the Right Choice for Your Goal
Using sticky boards is a non-invasive way to gather intelligence on colony health.
- If your primary focus is Routine Monitoring: Rely on the high-contrast white background to spot weekly trends in natural mortality, which signals when the population is spiking.
- If your primary focus is Treatment Verification: Use the board immediately after applying miticides to confirm the treatment is dislodging mites and to catch any that are stunned but not killed.
The petroleum jelly board converts a biological guess into a fixed, countable statistic.
Summary Table:
| Feature | Functionality | Primary Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Petroleum Jelly Layer | Acts as a stasis field to anchor fallen mites | Prevents sample loss from hive vibrations and airflow |
| White Paper Base | Provides a high-contrast background | Facilitates rapid, accurate identification of reddish-brown mites |
| Adhesive Barrier | Traps live mites and deters scavenger insects | Prevents re-infection and protects data integrity from ants |
| Screened Integration | Must be used with wire mesh/screened floor | Ensures mite collection while keeping worker bees safe |
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