Sugar shaking bees is a method used to detect external parasites, such as varroa mites, tropilaelaps mites and braula fly, on honey bees. It is a quick and easy field method that does not kill the bees, and removes 70% to 90% of varroa present on adult honey bees.

This Primefact includes information on how the sugar shaking method works, selecting a hive for testing, the equipment required, the procedure, and instructions on what you need to do should you detect or suspect the presence of varroa mite.