MayaBees · Oregon, US · Pests & Disease · Sep 11, 2026

Sugar roll then alcohol wash on the SAME 300 bees, eight hives — the autumn undercount is worse than I thought

I've always used the alcohol wash, but two club members swear by sugar rolls and I wanted real numbers, not forum opinions. So last weekend, all eight Oregon colonies: half-cup sample from a brood frame, sugar roll into a pan of water, count. Then the same 300 bees straight into the alcohol jar, shake, count again. Total = roll + wash. Results, roll / wash-of-same-bees / total: 2/5/7, 1/3/4, 3/4/7, 0/2/2, 4/6/10, 2/4/6, 1/2/3, 3/5/8. So the sugar roll found somewhere between nothing and about half of the mites that were on those bees. It was a damp 12°C morning, the sugar clumped within a minute, and the bees were sluggish about being rolled. I suspect on a hot dry July day the gap is smaller. But in September, the month when the number decides whether you treat, my sugar roll would have told me "fine" on colonies that the wash calls "treat now". Posting the raw numbers so people can argue with them.

#varroa#sugar-roll#alcohol-wash#monitoring#data-thread

▲ 14 votes 💬 4 replies

4 replies

ImkerinLena · Sep 11, 2026

Thank you for doing it properly — same bees, both methods, that is the only fair comparison. Your recovery is on the low side of what the published comparisons show, and the conditions explain why: a sugar roll depends on dry powdered sugar dislodging mites from bees that are moving; damp sugar clumps and cold bees don't move. The wash is also not 100%, but it's close enough to be the reference. My advice to every beginner: use the roll if you must in summer, but make your September decision on a wash.

CorkBeeRon · Sep 11, 2026

Here's the thing, MayaBees: the roll's defenders always say "it's consistent, just use a lower threshold". Your data says it's not consistent — you got anywhere from 0% to 60% recovery in one morning. Consistent enough on a warm dry day maybe, but nobody in Cork sees a warm dry day in September. Wash for me, every time, and I've never missed the 300 bees.

VTBeeHannah · Sep 12, 2026

Well, this is unsettling. My post-formic check last week was a sugar roll and it came back 3. If your ratio holds that's more like 6 to 9 on a wash, which is treat-territory rather than the "fine" I've been telling myself. Going to redo it as a wash this weekend. Thanks for the numbers, I think.

MayaBees · Sep 12, 2026

VTBeeHannah — yes, redo it, and post the pair so we get another data point. Small addition after a comment I got by message: I did the roll for a full two minutes with a rest, so I wasn't rushing it. ImkerinLena's framing is where I've landed: roll in summer if you like, but autumn decisions get the alcohol.

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