There’s a bit of history a lot of folks don’t know: Saint Valentine isn’t just the patron saint of lovers. He’s also traditionally considered a patron saint of beekeepers, tied to honey and the sweetness of life.
So in his honor, here’s a simple reminder that applies any time of year: know your mite level.
Varroa mites are part of modern beekeeping. Ignoring them doesn’t make them go away, and waiting until you see obvious trouble usually means the problem has been building for a while.
I don’t test every hive, but I do like to get a sampling across yards so I know what’s going on. A quick sugar roll or alcohol wash tells you a lot, and it’s better to know than to guess.
As a rule of thumb, it’s wise to check at least quarterly and have a plan to knock mites back when numbers start climbing. Exactly how you do that will vary from beekeeper to beekeeper, but the first step is always the same: get a real number.
Testing doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s a small, repeatable task that gives you useful information and helps you avoid bigger problems later on.
I put together a short video walking through why testing matters and how I think about it. You can watch it here:
[video link]
And if you need a straightforward way to run a sugar roll, we put together a simple kit with the basic tools we use here:
https://charliebee.com/products/sugar-roll-mite-testing-kit
Beekeeping is full of opinions, methods, and debates. Testing for mites isn’t really one of them. It’s just good practice.