FLUVALINATE STRIPS (APISTAN) IN SWARM TRAPS ARE NOT REPELLENT TO HONEY-BEE SWARMS

Fluvalinate strips are not repellent to honey bee swarms. Honey bee sw arms were given a side-by-side comparison choice between wood pulp swa rm traps containing a fluvalinate strip and traps not containing a str ip, Sixteen swarms chose the traps containing fluvalinate and 16 chose the control. Thus, no repellency of fluvalinate strips occurred. By u sing a combination of swarm traps and fluvalinate strips, beekeepers c an efficiently attract swarms while simultaneously destroying the varr oa mites carried with swarms. This approach is an excellent way to add colonies to an apiary and eliminate the risk of adding varroa-contami nated bees to the apiary.