# Anyone done mite washes using the "Varroa Easy Check" by Veto Pharma?



## SWM (Nov 17, 2009)

If there is already a discussion about this please point me to it but I couldn't find one. 

I saw one of these on display last summer at EAS but it wasn't on the market yet. It is now, and I would be interested in feedback from anyone who has used it.

http://www.veto-pharma.com/products/varroa-control/varroa-easycheck/


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

I looked it over, and though I've never used it, it seems to me to be not any easier, or more accurate, than the standard methods of sugar or alcohol testing.

That's because the hardest part - collecting the bees from the frames- would not change. The rest of the test is a piece of cake.

In my experience, the only thing that takes either of the rolls out of the pain in the neck category is doing them so often, and regularly, that you just build up a familiarity with the process. If you only check a few of your hives once or twice year, you'll be a novice at it for a decade. Do it on every colony, every warm month of the year and by Thanksgiving you'll be wondering what the fuss was about.

Enj.


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## Marcin (Jun 15, 2011)

enjambres said:


> Do it on every colony, every warm month of the year and by Thanksgiving you'll be wondering what the fuss was about.
> 
> Enj.


Practice makes perfect.


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## psm1212 (Feb 9, 2016)

I don't mind doing the washes, but I live in fear of washing a queen. Especially in the fall.

I have never used the Easy Check. I almost bought one at the last bee meeting. I should have. Currently, my mite washer is comprised of a lot of pieces: a solo cup (full), a solo cup (bottom cut out) touile (sp? for screen), alcohol, a measuring cup, a top for the solo cup (stolen from Subway). It is very cheap. But look at the number of components. If I get 15 miles away to an out yard and I forget one of them, its not worth what it does to my blood pressure. And I am an absent-minded oaf. It is not revolutionary, but it is a single unit. All you have to do is remember the alcohol and the unit. As I age, I am trying to dementia-proof my life. This is will be worth $20 for me and I will pick one up at the next bee meeting.


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## SWM (Nov 17, 2009)

Yeah, since it's all contained in one unit it just looked easier to me. I'm not sure when it became available on the market so I don't know if many have had a chance to try it yet.


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

I have been trying to find information on this as well. How accurate is it?


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## bushpilot (May 14, 2017)

It should be as accurate as any other alcohol wash system.

I have one, and found it easy to use. I like the fact that it is all one unit.


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## Hillbillybees (Mar 3, 2016)

We had two mason jars with the lids soldered together and a screen in between. This doesn't break and the guys find it easier. It is the same as far as the wash goes on accuracy. All in one, easier to use and my guys can all use whichever one is closest to them. Been waiting for something like it for a while. Its easy enough that it should come with all starter colonies for new beeks and maybe they would not have trouble finding their mite loads.


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## psm1212 (Feb 9, 2016)

I bought one since my last post and have probably done at least 20 washes with it. I really like it. I keep the Easy Check, a 1/2 cup measuring cup and a couple of bottles of alcohol in a small plastic tub with a lid. I pull out the Easy Check, fill it with alcohol, shake the nurse bees into the tub, then scoop up a half cup of bees and dump them in the Easy Check. Shake, swirl and open the lid. Then I spin the basket around in the alcohol for a while to make sure I float all of the mites out of the basket. Count. 

It is not incredibly different than my old practice, but I find it faster, easier and fewer parts to leave at home by mistake. My only criticism of the product is that it frequently leaks just little bit of alcohol when shaking it vigorously. I think they could have made it a little more robust with a better sealing lid, but I am sure that would have probably cost us another $5.


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## JoshuaW (Feb 2, 2015)

I was using a homemade mite washer like Randy Oliver's, but it wore out quickly, then the replacement that I made didn't hold up much longer, so I decided to bite the bullet and get the Easy Check. I like it. I like not tinkering around now that I have more hives and need to move through the yard faster.


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## Virgil (Jan 14, 2018)

I've got one of these, they are very good for an off the shelf model.


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## Geno (Apr 23, 2015)

I have used one, another expensive beekeeping widget. The normal alcohol wash provides the same results.

Find your queen first, get sample from another frame of brood. Test more often than treat....keeps you ahead of the mites.


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## Virgil (Jan 14, 2018)

JoshuaW said:


> I was using a homemade mite washer like Randy Oliver's, but it wore out quickly, then the replacement that I made didn't hold up much longer, so I decided to bite the bullet and get the Easy Check. I like it. I like not tinkering around now that I have more hives and need to move through the yard faster.


I found that, they where a pain to make - for me anyway. These are pretty easy to use and robust.


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## ashley (May 16, 2018)

Why do the instructions of the Varroa Easy Check say to fill the container with alcohol only up to the bottom of the white basket? That gives no room for swirling, and seems like mites could get stuck among the bee bodies. This is my first check ever, we should be near the peak of varroa, this hive is not VSH, and I didn’t get a single mite in my alcohol wash. Next time I want to fill the container higher with alcohol so the bees are looser in the liquid. What are your thoughts?


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