Varroa mite suppression with a simplified sucrocide application method and the effects of sucrose octanoate on honey bee eggs and larvae

A series of experiments were conducted in Florida and New Jersey in 2004 and 2005 to evaluate the efficacy of a simplified Sucrocide (TM) application technique to suppress varroa mite populations, and to determine the effects of direct applications of Sucrocide (sucrose octanoate) on honey bee eggs and larvae. The simplified application technique ("spray-down") involved spraying a label-strength dilution of Sucrocide between the frame spaces of the beehives, which provided a 75.3 % reduction in the number of varroa mites in the test colonies during the late-season trial. The direct application of Sucrocide to honey bee eggs and larvae in frames from which all adult bees had been removed resulted in the complete removal of bee eggs and larvae. However, there was no detectable loss of brood when Sucrocide was applied according to label directions, and it is therefore believed that, under these circumstances, adult bees serve as an adequate protective barrier for the bee eggs and larvae. Brood patches in which bee eggs and brood were removed were re-laid with eggs by the queens within a 4-day period. The effects of the spray-down method on bee eggs and larvae were not determined, but it is likely that the results found for the label direction method would have been similar for the spray-down method.