Wednesday, November 8, 2017

What's New?

Summer in Review
Recording Mite Counts in HiveTracks
This past summer, HiveTracks introduced Mite Count reporting as a new feature enabling users to collect mite infestation data and visualize varroa infestations in their honey bee colonies.

To participate, first, evaluate the level of mites (number of mites per 100 bees) using standardized protocol. Then, enter the data from each hive into your HiveTracks account using the Mite Count feature. When you enter your mite load data you will have the option to opt-in to share your data with MiteCheck (www.mitecheck.com), which is an ongoing mite monitoring effort provided by the Bee Informed Partnership. If you opt-in, you can then visit the MiteCheck site to see varroa levels in your region on a map. Be sure to check that site frequently to see the county level infestation levels during this critical beekeeping month. The published information will not identify individual participants.

Inspecting Your Hives Using the Healthy Colony Checklist



In collaboration with Dick Rogers, entomologist, apiologist and research manager for Bayer's North American Bee Health program, we've added the Healthy Colony Checklist to HiveTracks, a quick, six-item standardized set of guidelines for beekeepers to follow when inspecting hives. Rogers, creator of the Healthy Colony Checklist, explains, "To efficiently and effectively protect and improve colony health, it is now essential to monitor colonies more frequently, even as often as weekly. A method for weekly colony assessments needs to be easy to use, fast, thorough, and yield observations that are meaningful and easy to interpret for practical management decision ­making by apiarists, apiculturists, and apiologists."



To use the Healthy Colony Checklist, simply login to your HiveTracks account, navigate to your Hives page, and click the Healthy Colony Checklist link under the Most Recent Inspection column.

Questions about any of the new features? Want to know more about our research efforts? Email us at support@hivetracks.com or visit us at www.hivetracks.com.

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