Purdue Leg-Chewers- GREAT results! January 08 2019
Well we just finished up a 2 year project with the Purdue Leg-chewers, and they had better winter survival by 69% and higher honey production by over +35%. here is an excerpt from USDA SARE report FNE17-863.
"The results showed that Group 1-MBB [Purdue] colonies, bees that chew mites, were significantly heavier than the Group-3-control group. Also, Group 2-feral bees, were similar to the control group. Statistics proved a positive correlation between MBB and hive weight; the more chewed mites, the higher the weight. The average weights were: Group 1 – 132 pounds, Group 2 – 85 pounds, and Group 3 – 97 pounds.
Winter survival was measured in March of 2018, by number of colonies. The results are: MBB had 21 out of 30 survive (70%), feral colonies had 10 out of 16 survive (62.5%), and the control had 6 out of 18 survive (33.3% )."
Good news for the bees!