The sugar roll is quite similar to an alcohol wash. Take 300 bees (half a Cup), and put them in a screened jar. Add roughly quarter cup of powdered sugar. Shake vigorously for 5 minutes. The bees must be shaken vigorously for this to be even remotely effective.
If the bees expel their nectar and moisten the powdered sugar to the point that it’s turns into a syrup and is longer powder, add another quarter cup of powdered sugar. Again shake violently for another few minutes. The bees must be coated head to toe in powdered sugar and be completely dry, and must be shaken for a very very long time to ensure the mites are sufficiently dislodged.
Once finished remove the lid and shake, vigorously again, the powder from the bees into fresh water. The bees, once free of powder, can be released into the hive where they will slowly die from having their braincells rearranged by the walls of the jar.
Count any mites in the water carefully.
The mite count is (mite count) / 3 for a percentage figure of phoretic mites in the hive.
CAUTION: High humidity causes powdered sugar to clump, making coverage much more difficult to achieve, if not impossible. If you must test in particularly humid or sticky weather, consider another method.
The alcohol wash is exactly the same as above, except use a half cup of alcohol solution instead. The stronger the alcohol, the more effective the wash will be. If using commercial isopropyl rubbing alcohol, make sure it is at least 70% strength.
Instead of alcchol, you can use soapy water, but we recommend adding some dishwasher rinse-aid to the soap solution so that any bubbles clear from the solution more readily after shaking. Proportion is 10 mL of dish soap per liter of water, or a quarter teaspoon of soap per cup of water.
Count the mites in the liquid. (mite count) / 3 for a percentage figure of phoretic mites in the hive.
Similar to above, take 300 bees (half a Cup) and add them to a screened jar. This needs to be a varroa counting jar, as you need an isolated environment to gas the bees. Examples of this are the “Varroa EasyCheck” by vetopharama.