The plastic may have worked if they would have had better guidance. Told them to hold on to them for maybe splits. You just don't throw $200 on the dump. His wife said that she much prefers the wood, plus the money saved making equipment. A little disappointed they wouldn't get honey this yr per my advice. We have plenty so they'll have honey.
Being able to build equipment has actually saved us several hundred so far.
...lol
Do you have a vaporizer? If so, what kind?
They were talking about a vaporizer at our last meeting. We're going to find out which one on Tuesday. It's supposed to be really good and under $200, I think it's the one we're going to get. I'll let you know.
If I find Varroa in one I treat all my hives (3). To me there is a chance of cross contamination. For my own piece of mind, especially now with the winter coming on and I want lots of winter bees. I will do this prior to the fall flow. Formic Pro in the fall, Apivar early, early spring just to keep the little SOBs from building a tolerance to either one. Even if "they" say it is honey safe I do it way before any flow starts. Fortunately 0 count last check but will do another late Aug. Another thing I will do is mix thyme oil in my winter sugar blocks along with some other food grade oils. So far so good.Varroa mite inspection showed 0 mites on 3 hives, but 4 on the 4th.
We're thinking about doing OA vapor (oxalic acid on the 4th hive). We want to have supers on all of the hives in about 5 weeks for the buckwheat flow. So I really don't have time for apiguard and I'm not sure I want to use it anyway.
The girls are still bringing in some nectar and pollen.
I'll share our honey amounts when we finish extracting.
4 Varroa mites...gross
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From my understanding, OA is a naturally occurring acid, so should be safe to use with the supers on. I think that's what we are going to do. We have OA pads on our hives right now, so I really think it should be fine.
Yes, I think we will treat all of them too. I also want to do Formic in the fall and we will treat before the flow, if our bees make it through winter.
I get mine from LorAnn, natural and food grade, a little pricy but worth it. I have a recipe if interested.Yes, I think we will treat all of them too. I also want to do Formic in the fall and we will treat before the flow, if our bees make it through winter.
Dale is going to build our winter candy boards. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about everything right now, but I also know that things can go south quickly. Thank you for the tip on the thyme oil.
