🩺 Colony Disease Risk Scorecard

About this simulation

Beekeepers rarely get a single lab test that says "treat now." Instead they weigh several signs at once — a mite wash count, how solid the brood pattern looks, how many dead bees pile up at the entrance, and any visible symptoms — and combine them into a judgement call. This simulation turns that judgement into an explicit, weighted risk score and routes it through a simple decision tree so you can see how each input shifts the recommended action.

How it works

• Varroa mites — simulated mites per 100 bees from an alcohol/sugar wash; the comb and bees visibly gain red mite dots as this rises.
• Brood pattern quality — how solid vs. spotty the sealed brood looks; low quality darkens and gaps the comb cells.
• Dead bees at entrance — daily die-off, shown as a growing pile at the hive entrance.
• Visible symptom — a specific sign layered on top; American Foulbrood (AFB) always forces the tree to its most urgent branch regardless of score, because it is a reportable, colony-destroying disease.
• The weighted score (0–100) drives a colour-coded gauge and a plain-language treatment recommendation.

Controls

• Varroa mites — mites per 100 bees (0–30).
• Brood pattern quality — percentage of solid, healthy sealed brood (0–100%).
• Dead bees at entrance — approximate daily mortality count (0–100).
• Visible symptom — pick the dominant visible sign, including suspected AFB.
• ↺ Reset scorecard — restores default values. Drag to rotate, scroll to zoom.

Did you know?

Most regional apiculture extension guides treat a mite wash result above roughly 3 mites per 100 bees as a treatment trigger in season — this simulation uses a similar rule of thumb, blended with brood and mortality signals, to build its score.