I agree with you about the abilities of our little winged helpers. I treated the inside of the hive boxes with a wire brush and they don't look as bad as before but, being harmed by mold myself (copd), i would feel better if i can give that mold the bleach treatment.
I did a sugar test in September (when it is still hot here) and had around 3.5 mites per 100 bees, so the hive got a powdered sugar treatment which resulted in a lot of angry bees and maybe ~100 dead mites. Examining the dead hive, i found no signs of hive-beetles, wax moths or mites.
Here is one recipe for 5 LB sugar brick. I double it to take up the whole feeder shim and only use them in late winter if the bees are getting too close to using up their own stores. Lot's of how to make feeder shim video on you tube
So you had a little over 3% infestation in September, thats too many mites too late in the year. In late July you want no more than 6 mites per 300 bees or 2% infestation. Powdered sugar does nothing for the treatment of mites. You may have knocked a few phoretic mites off the bees but killed no mites under the cappings where they all are. Its not what we can see that kills bees its what we CANT see that kills them. Viruses vectored by mites kills them. No amount of feeding recipes, wrapping, insulating, cleaning of equipment will save them. Healthy, low mite colonies thrive under extreme conditions. I didnt even bother to wrap my hives this year.
I agree, no powdered sugar for treatment, or any loose dry feed ie granulated sugar (Mountain Camp Method) or dry pollen substitute as feed inside the hive.
- Or in other words a strip that releases Amitraz, an acaricide, over time. Whatever an acaricide might bee…
I have had good results with the Apivar strips. Two treatments, one in the fall removing around mid November, N0w getting ready for the spring treatment being removed just before the Blue Berry nectar flow, about mid April. There are natural applications that call for caging the Queen to interrupt brood production in the spring, not a good option for me. It is now thought that Varroa are becoming resistant to Apivar so I may have to start considering other options if I see this in our hives. Fall treatment I put 2 strips in in top and bottom boxes 4 total staggering (ie) bot 1 front 1 back, top box I will put the strips reversed so the strips aren't over each other. As far as treating your new bees, it's rock and a hard place. To sacrifice bees from a package for a mite count is reducing population. Myself I would treat as an ounce of prevention, it's not going to hurt and you maintain the number of be bees. If you have access to a bee keeper who can sell a NUC rather than a mailed package I would go that way. NUCs already have brood coming on where as your package is starting from square one. I'm sure other keepers on the site have other options for you. I'm in New Jersey, where you are there may be better options.Friends, i am confused now. The local bee-keepers around here either use Oxalic-acid with a vaporizer or powdered sugar to address the mites. I helped out during an acid treatment and accidentally inhaled some of the vapor. Made me cough for days - maybe i am overly sensitive to volatile organic acids, i can't stand vinegar and formic acid, makes me coughing immediately. That's why i decided to go with the powered sugar method.
Anyways, i received the new Dadant catalogue yesterday and i read through the turquoise section (Medications and Pest Control) and found literally a ton of "medications" against varroa:
Has anyone any experiences with these products?
- APIGUARD - a slow release thymol gel that is also effectively treating Tracheal mites
- Formic Pro strips - I assume those strips slowly release formic acid
- Mite Away Quick Strips - Formic-Acid polysaccharide gel which (i assume) is supposed to be fed by the bees to the brood as it »kills the varroa mite where it reproduces under the brood cap« (?)
- Apistan strips - contains a »synthetic pyrethroid tau-fluvalinate«, so basically a mite targeting insecticide that is (more or less) harmless for the bees?
- Apivar - wow! "Controlled Release Technology"
Any recommendations?
I will receive my packaged bees in 2-3 weeks, when should i start with mite treatment after installing the bees?
Don't think about all the other treatments yet. All packages come with mites and you want to give them a clean start. Use an Oxalic Acid Dribble treatment, it's easy. No vapors because you're using it as a liquid. The plan is to treat them before they have capped brood because the mites will be protected and reproduce in the capped cells. After the queen is released from the cage you have about 5 days to treat. After the 7th or 8th day it's too late. Put a tray or sheet of paper on the bottom board before you treat them. Pull it out 24 hours later and count the mites. I've seen anywhere from a few hundred to thousands. That's why so many first year beekeepers lose their bees.Has anyone any experiences with these products?
Any recommendations?
I will receive my packaged bees in 2-3 weeks, when should i start with mite treatment after installing the bees?
I've only ever gotten one package of bees that came with mites and they were loaded. They did not survive.
