Beekeeping Tips
Colony losses run 40–50% per year in the US. Varroa destructor is the leading cause — not because it's unstoppable, but because most beekeepers don't monitor consistently enough to catch it in time.
The Bee Informed Partnership surveys thousands of beekeepers every year. Their findings are consistent: US colonies die at a rate of roughly 40–50% annually. That number hasn't improved meaningfully in a decade.
The primary cause is Varroa destructor — a parasitic mite that arrived in North America in the late 1980s and fundamentally changed what it means to keep bees.
This is the part that catches new beekeepers off guard. Varroa feeds on bee fat body tissue, which weakens individual bees — but the real damage comes from the viruses it transmits. Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) is the most significant. A colony with high mite loads produces a generation of bees with shriveled wings, shortened lifespans, and impaired immune systems.
The population spiral happens fast. Mite populations double roughly every 4–6 weeks during a brood cycle. A colony that has 1% infestation in May can easily reach 10–15% by September — well past the threshold where colony survival through winter becomes unlikely.
The Honey Bee Health Coalition recommends treating when your mite wash shows ≥2 mites per 100 bees (2%) during the brood season. In late summer and fall — when winter bees are being raised — the threshold drops to 1%.
Missing that window by even a few weeks can mean the difference between a colony that makes it through winter and one that doesn't.
Most colony losses aren't inevitable. They're the result of catching Varroa too late — or not monitoring at all. Beekeepers who do alcohol washes every 3–4 weeks during the brood season and treat promptly at threshold have dramatically better survival rates than those who treat on a schedule or don't monitor at all.
The hard part isn't the treatment. It's the habit: opening a hive, pulling 300 bees, doing a wash, recording the result. Done consistently, it's 10 minutes of work that can save a colony.
HiveHelper tracks your Varroa counts over time so you can see your infestation trend — not just a single number. When your count approaches the treatment threshold, the app flags it. Your inspection history stays with your hive, so you always know when you last checked and what you found.
Consistent monitoring is the highest-leverage thing a beekeeper can do. We built HiveHelper to make it easier.
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