The effect of the ‘Bee Gym™’ grooming device on Varroa destructor mite fall from honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) colonies

Grooming is a honey bee behavior that has the potential to minimize and manage the detrimental effects of Varroa destructor. Here we tested the efficacy of the Bee Gym™, a device hypothesized to increase honey bee auto-grooming and increase mite removal from colonies. Natural mite fall from 20 colonies was counted for 14 days, after which half the colonies were fitted with a Bee Gym and half with a control object. Mite fall and the proportion of damaged mites were then recorded for another 14 days. Total mite fall was generally higher over the second 14 days, but this increase was not significantly higher for the Bee Gym colonies than for the control colonies. There was also no difference in the proportion of damaged mites between the two treatments. Mite fall and damage to mites may be influenced by other factors, and this is discussed; however, given that we found no effect of the Bee Gym, we conclude that there is no evidence from this study of its efficacy as a management strategy for V. destructor.