Identifying and Treating Varroa

1. Varroa mites are the biggest parasites in the world, relative to their host. The size ratio of honey bee to varroa mite is equivalent to that of a human to a basketball.


2. Varroa mites are the number one killer of honey bees globally.

3. A simple, effective and accurate method for treating varroa is the alcohol wash method.
   "The test is carried out as follows:

• Use a wide-mouth glass jar and scoop about 300 bees (~1 cup) from the brood area. Make sure that the queen is NOT included!
• Add 50 ml (~ 2 oz) of windshield wiper fluid (or diluted methyl hydrate, or rubbing alcohol) to the jar and shake for several minutes.
• Remove lid and pour contents into a container covered with light metal wire-mesh screen (8 mesh/in) or a coarse sieve. Repeat.
• Pour alcohol solution into a second container covered with cheesecloth or fine sieve. Count number of mites." - Agricultural Factsheet #222

Do varroa mites only prey on bees? Or do they also go for other insects? Possibly ants?

Identifying Nosema

1. Nosema belongs to a group of highly specialized fungi. It only effects adult bees, the most susceptible being the worker bees. The infection begins when bees ingest Nosema spores. Once ingested the spores uncurl  a long straw-like polar filament which penetrates and infects outer gut cells

2. To diagnose Noseama, collect 10-25 bees, that are older than 8 days old, from the hive entrance of a number of colonies. Total sample size should be about 100 bees. You can then either send them away to be examined or examine them yourself through a microscope.

3. Once Nosema has been diagnosed, you can treat it by disinfecting the comb, or through the use of medication. Comb can be disinfected by electron-beam irradiation. The only medication registered for the control of Nosema is Fumagillin.

Fumagillin is the only registered medication to treat Nosema. Are there any other unregistered home remedies that people claim to help Nosema?

Common Bee Diseases

1. Not only do diseases and viruses harm bees, but also pesticides, insecticides, and various animals including bears, cattle, birds, ants, frogs, toads, and many more.

2. Bee's can be effected by many different viruses and diseases. Reading about these, the one that interested me the most was bee paralysis. This virus only affects adult bees. A bee keeper will notice hairless glossy bees, bees crawling on the ground around the hive, or bees trembling on the landing board unable to fly.

3. The most serious disease a hive can get is American foulbrood. This disease is caused by Bacillus larvae and can be identified from a shot gun appearance of the capped broad. The capping will also be sunken and have some holes in it. If you open the cells they will contain a gooey tobacco spit coulered substance.

Have the bees at the school ever had a disease/virus or been attacked by pests?

A Compost Success Story

1. I found it really cool that Windermere Secondary School's program provides food and herbs to the school cafeteria. I would way rather eat food fresh from the garden than the burgers and pizza they have at West Van.

2. Kids in Windermere's agriculture program bike around to the high school's different feeder schools and load up bike trailers, donated to them by Cargo Bike Co-op, and PEDAL, with materials to use in there compost. Not only does this benefit the agriculture program but it also is incorporated in to the kids P.E. classes.

3. Earth Tubs are industrial sized composters that are ideal for restaurants, schools, supermarkets etc. Reading about Earth Tubs, along with all the other Urban Agriculture readings, has got me thinking about how cool it would be to have a completely self sufficient restaurant/garden/farm. The crops from the garden would supply the restaurant with food, the restaurant's scraps could be put into an Earth Cup, making nutrient-rich soil for the plants. Animals, such as chickens and cows, could also be kept and fed vegetables/grain from the garden. Although the restaurant might not have a huge selection of dishes and wouldn't have a consistent menu, the novelty of the restaurant might attract enough customers if it was located in a tourist hot spot.

Windermere just planted a mini orchard with 3 fruit trees. Is there much maintenance involved with having fruit trees?

Worm Composting

1. I had no idea worms would turn kitchen scraps into "a rich, dark, earth-smelling soil conditioner". That's so cool.

2. You can compost with worms indoors. This is a huge advantage for people living in climates unsuitable for regular outdoor composting, and for people who live in an apartment, or just don't have a yard.

3. All you need to compost with worms is a container, bedding (shredded newspaper, shredded leaves, chopped up straw etc.), and of course worms.


It says you should only use the red worms: Eisenia foetida, and Lumbricus rubellus, and not dew worms because dew worms are not likely to survive. Why is it that red worms can survive, but not dew worms.