Winter Storage, CO2, and Varroa with Dr. Brandon Hopkins (S5, E18)

Would you believe varroa mites, carbon dioxide and indoor wintering are working together to make keeping bees easier and more profitable? Well, believe it.

Today, we talk with Dr. Brandon Hopkins from Washington State University. His research has shown that if colonies are overwintered in an environmental chamber that can control the levels of the gasses the bees are exposed to, that by adjusting the level of carbon dioxide from a normal 0.04% to over 8.5%, mites in those colonies die. Really. And what’s more, the bees don’t, really!

Temperature was set at just about 40 degrees, the chamber was dark, and after 64 days, mite mortality was extremely high. High enough to prove that this could be a mite controlling tool to use in indoor wintering.

To show a difference, another chamber was set up with a 0.12% carbon dioxide concentration, and there was a significant difference in mite mortality was recorded between the two. High carbon dioxide equally high mortality, low concentration equals low mortality.

There is much more research underway. Stay tuned!

We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.

Thank you for listening!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 

• Brandon's Research, "Elevated CO2 Increases Overwintering Mortality of Varroa destructor" - https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/115/4/1054/6590767
• Bee Informed Sentinel Apiary Program - https://beeinformed.org/citizen-science/sentinel-apiaries/
• Honey Bee Obscura - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their sponsorship of Bee Books: Old & New with Kim Flottum. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a regular podcast featuring interviews with leading bee and insect researchers in the world of pollination, hosted by Dr. Kirsten Traynor.

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: [email protected]

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC