Cutting Out Drone Brood
Arbeiten am Bienenstand
The capped drone frame is removed and the drone brood cut out.
The capped drone frame is removed and the drone brood cut out. Because the varroa mite preferentially infests drone cells, this removes a considerable share of the reproducing mites from the colony, entirely without medication. Two to three well-drawn frames per season can noticeably lower the infestation by the end of the season.
Timing is decisive. A drone needs 24 days from egg to emergence and is capped from day 10. Because the empty frame first has to be drawn out, a window of about 10 to 24 days remains after it is inserted. To be safe, cut it out after three weeks at the latest. Once the drones emerge, the mites are also free again in the colony, and then you have built them a breeding ground instead.
Melt down the cut-out combs promptly or freeze them until then; never offer them outdoors for the bees to clean out. Alternating two drone frames keeps the rhythm reliable.