The Honey Bee Health Coalition has released an updated version of its Varroa Management Decision Tool, a free interactive resource that helps beekeepers identify Varroa mite control methods suited to their colonies’ specific needs. The updated tool reflects the shifting landscape of Varroa control and aims to allow beekeepers — whose colonies are vital for fruit, vegetable, nut and seed crop pollination — to spend less time sorting through labels and more time making informed decisions for healthier honey bee colonies.
“The Honey Bee Health Coalition’s revised Varroa Management Decision Tool keeps pace with the changing landscape of Varroa control — including when to apply, how much to use and whether there are resistance concerns — and empowers beekeepers to make timely, science-backed decisions on treatment and prevention that suit their own philosophy, location and circumstances,” says Lewis Bartlett, assistant professor of entomology at the University of Georgia.
Choosing a Varroa control method can be daunting, says the coalition. Beekeepers must weigh multiple treatment options, product labels and factors such as colony conditions, temperature, brood presence and honey production. Finding the right approach takes time and careful research. The Varroa Management Decision Tool is designed to simplify the process by doing the legwork for beekeepers.
The Coalition reviewed product labels and distilled the key considerations into five simple questions:
- Question 1: After sampling, do your Varroa mite levels exceed the treatment threshold?
- Question 2: Are you open to synthetic treatments or do you prefer a naturally derived treatment?
- Question 3: Is brood present?
- Question 4: Do you have honey supers on?
- Question 5: Is your colony’s population increasing, at peak, decreasing, or dormant?
Beekeepers, whether they keep a few backyard hives or manage hundreds of commercial colonies for crop pollination, can use the tool to explore potential control methods, understand each method’s requirements and restrictions and identify options to consider as part of an integrated pest management plan.
To avoid resistance issues, beekeepers should always monitor mite levels and rotate among products and cultural control methods, the coalition says.
“Varroa mite control needs to change seasonally, just as our bee management changes with the seasons,” says Dewey Caron, content and communications specialist for the Oregon Master Beekeeper Program at Oregon State University. “The Varroa Management Decision Tool, designed to use with the Honey Bee Health Coalition’s Tools for Varroa Management, helps keep management of both bee colony and Varroa mite populations working together to ensure healthy, prosperous colonies year-round. It keys decision-making to both beekeeping objectives and beekeeper philosophy. It will ensure beekeepers remain up to date with changes in mite control.”
The Varroa Management Decision Tool is available for free here. It is designed for use alongside the Honey Bee Health Coalition’s Tools for Varroa Management guide, the 9th edition of which was released in June 2026.
