The overall colony loss rate during winter 2022 was 13.5%, almost identical to the loss rate in winter 2021.
While loss rates have levelled off, they have levelled off near the highest recorded rates since the survey began in 2015, and the rate of suspected varroa-related losses continues to increase.
The survey estimates 6.4% of all living colonies were lost to suspected varroa and related complications during the 2022 winter.
It marks a 20% increase from the 2021 rate of 5.3%. in contrast, losses attributed to queen problems, wasps and suspected starvation in 2022 were close to their long-term averages.
Varroa management rates amongst respondents improved considerably.
4.4% of beekeepers said they didn’t treat for varroa in the 2020-21 season, while the latest survey shows that number dropped to only 1.5% of beekeepers that didn’t do any varroa management in the 2021-22 season.
In contrast to 2021, every beekeeper with more than 50 colonies treated for varroa in 2022.
In the survey beekeepers who lost colonies to varroa were asked what they thought went wrong. The most common answer was ‘re-invasion’. Over 38% of survey respondents said they treated for varroa more than once during autumn.
