Beekeeper-led · field guide · Victoria
How to do a Varroa mite-wash — and record it
A simple guide to the alcohol-wash method, how to record your result in our free tool, and what the result means. Works on your phone, right at the apiary.
Found Varroa? Reporting is required by law. Report it to Agriculture Victoria first (1800 084 881) — then use this tool to track whether your treatment is working.
What you’ll need
- A wash cup or shaker designed for alcohol washes, with a built-in counting chamber (or a sealed jar with a mesh insert).
- Washing fluid: methylated spirits, isopropyl alcohol, or windscreen washer fluid.
- A measure for roughly 300 bees (about half a standard cup, or a dedicated 300-bee scoop).
- Your phone, to open the form at the apiary.
How to do an alcohol wash
The alcohol wash is the standard, most reliable way to measure your mite load.
- Pick a brood frame — choose a frame with open brood, where mites concentrate. Make sure the queen is not on it before you shake the bees off.
- Collect about 300 bees into your wash cup — shake the frame’s bees into a tub first, then scoop your sample.
- Add the alcohol to cover the bees.
- Swirl firmly for at least 60 seconds. This dislodges the mites from the bees.
- Strain and count the mites that drop through the mesh into the counting chamber. The bees in the sample will not survive — this small loss gives you an accurate, life-saving read on the whole colony.
- Repeat the wash on the same bees once or twice more — a second and third wash catches mites the first one missed, and gives a more accurate count.
New to alcohol washes? Agriculture Victoria and your local club run demonstrations. The method here follows the standard SOP.
Recording it in the tool
Open the form at beesfriend.com.au/mite-wash — it works on your phone, in the field. Here’s what it asks and why.
Getting started
Confirm consent, then enter your identifier (a BeeMAX ID, email, or operator code) so we can recognise your repeat submissions over time without double-counting. Contact details are separate and only collected if you opt in.
Where and when
Let your phone capture the apiary GPS with permission — it places your data in the right region even if a place name is mistyped, and it’s anonymised and never published. Then region, date and time.
About the colony
Your own apiary and colony codes, queen age and source, brood frames and boxes, and brood status — this matters because the action threshold changes with the colony’s brood phase. Tick any visible disease signs (or “None”), and any management in the last 90 days (or “None”).
The wash
Sampling device, alcohol type and strength, bee-count method, number of washes, and mites in wash 1, 2 and 3. The form shows your running rate after each wash and calculates your mites per 100 bees automatically.
What your result means
The tool gives a plain-language read based on your colony’s brood phase. The action threshold is stricter when there’s little or no brood (mites are easier to knock down then) and higher when brood is active. You’ll see one of:
- No mites detected — none dropped in this wash. Keep monitoring regularly; loads change through the season.
- Monitor closely — mites are present but below the action threshold for your colony’s phase. Keep a close eye and test again soon.
- Treatment recommended — your level is at or above the action threshold for your phase. Time to act, and to plan which treatment to use.
These are guides to help you decide — not a diagnosis. When in doubt, talk to a Bee Biosecurity Officer (136 186) or Agriculture Victoria.
Checking whether a treatment worked
This is the most useful thing you can record. With chemical resistance now confirmed in Victoria, you can no longer assume a treatment worked — you have to check. If this wash is checking a treatment you applied earlier, the form asks which treatment, when you applied it, and the mite level before. It then tells you one of:
- Mites now below the action threshold — your treatment appears to have worked. Keep monitoring.
- Mites still above the action threshold — the treatment hasn’t brought the load down far enough. Consider re-treating with a different chemical group, and report a suspected treatment failure.
- Mites did not fall — little or no reduction. This may point to resistance. Rotate to a different chemical group and report it.
When many beekeepers record these before-and-after checks, an honest regional picture of which treatments are still working — and where resistance is emerging — becomes visible. No single beekeeper can see that alone. Your records build it.
Reporting — at a glance
- Detect Varroa for the first time: report to the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline 1800 084 881 (legally required).
- Record inspections (positive or negative): use BeeMAX.
- Suspect a treatment has failed: report to Agriculture Victoria, and record it here.
- Need advice: Bee Biosecurity Officers 136 186 · agriculture.vic.gov.au/varroa.
Thank you for taking part. Every wash you record helps protect bees across the region — together. Read more about the initiative or see how we handle your data.