2022/23 Winter Capped Honey Bee Brood Monitoring Program

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The status of capped brood in honey bee colonies during winter is critical information beekeepers must consider when choosing an appropriate control product for the mite Varroa destructor. As colonies emerge from winter, insight into colony brood rearing also helps beekeepers plan for early spring management, such as feeding and swarm control.

Although colonies located in many parts of the United States experience predictable extended periods without brood, this may not be the case for those in coastal and southern regions with mild winters.

To help beekeepers make appropriate management decisions during winter and early spring, 7 land-grant universities, 1 statewide cooperative extension system, and 5 USDA ARS labs (Baton Rouge, Beltsville, Poplarville, Stoneville, Tucson) are jointly monitoring the amount of capped brood in their colonies throughout the country from mid-October 2022 to the end of February 2023.

This page was updated every 2 weeks so that the amount of capped brood in the monitored colonies can be communicated to the beekeeping community.

Biweekly Static Maps

Each blue point on a map below represents the average amount of capped brood among all monitored colonies at a particular location, as expressed as deep frame equivalents. One deep frame equivalent represents 100% coverage of capped brood on both sides of the frame.

For example, the blue point over Washington D.C. for the Week of October 17th shows that the average amount of capped brood among the 9 monitored colonies was between 0.1 and 1.0 deep frames. This was calculated by dividing the total amount of capped brood of all 9 colonies by 9.

Week of February 20th, 2023

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Week of February 6th, 2023

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Week of January 23rd, 2023

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Week of January 9th, 2023

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Week of December 26th, 2022

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Week of December 12th, 2022

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Week of November 28th, 2022

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Week of November 14th, 2022

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Week of October 31st, 2022

Winter Brood Monitoring Map of Bee Colonies, week of October 31, 2022

Week of October 17th, 2022

Winter Brood Monitoring Map of Bee Colonies, week of October 17th, 2022

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Contact

Geoffrey Williams
Associate Professor
301 Funchess Hall
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-5068

Rogan Tokach
Ph.D. Student
PAm-Costco USA Scholar
rtt0016@auburn.edu