The Old Folks Home

you all may already know this.......the caterpillars on dill and fennel are usually swallowtails. I pick them fill an old aquarium that I have with dill or fennel they make cocoons and we get to watch the beautiful butterflies emerge and then we set them free.
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As others have said, stay away from the permethrins/pyrethrins and the Sevin. It will more than likely harm your bees. I have used both in the past to treat for mites and now that I have a hive on my property, even though it's far from the chickens, and they don't appear to mingle, I don't want to take any chances.

I have a covered turtle sandbox with sand, DE and ashes from the wood and pellet stoves in it. It's for prevention. They love to dust in it.

Unfortunately my neighbor picked up laying birds from somewhere this summer. I told her to worm and treat them for mites/lice and even gave her the treatments, but she was too lazy to do it. Those birds come over and eat out of my rooster tractor feeder, and they gave my roosters a bad case of mites that I discovered 2 days ago. Luckily so far it seems like my main flock is mite-free. I'm going to have to calm down and then go yell at the neighbor this weekend. Her birds still come over and eat my food and I've got a bunch of birds that fly over the fence every day and will more than likely contract mites from hers. We're just going to process the tractor birds this weekend and not treat them. That means that giant roo of mine isn't going to stay to be part of my meat bird project. Unfortunately because he's so fat he also has a keel blister and some bumblefoot. Just not healthy stock.

Anyway, I use pour on ivermectin for lice/mites and I've found it works pretty well but I've also in the past used it along with a dusting regimen. I also use albendazole (Valbazen) orally for worms, I don't rely on the ivermectin topically for worms. I'm just not convinced that it has good enough absorption through the skin to reach the bloodstream in sufficient quantities to affect worms in the gut. As Wisher said, it's pretty simple to worm orally with albendazole, especially if you have help, and it's effective.

What are you guys using to treat mites on your bees this fall? This is my first year with bees. I was impressed with the effectiveness of formic acid, but seeing the side effects in the hive gave me pause. I ended up going with the slightly less effective but less toxic thymol.

knock on wood here, our bees have never had mites, so the hubby (preferring to be all natural) doesn't treat the bees with anything. That may change should he encounter a hive with mites. The only thing he uses is the mite trap inside the hive which is just a pan with grooves in it filled with vegetable oil to drown any mites that may try to inhibit the hive. I also have a covered turtle sandbox for the girls haha. It seems to work for them. I am skeptical of using anything that may or may not kill my husbands bees. Don't know what I'm gonna do. I may just hold off till I see a problem and then figure it out ??
 
Basketball! And the 0 is Tony Parker's number...my daughter and I crush on him.
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I love all sports, but basketball is my fav. The chickens may hafta come in the house during playoffs. Hmmm...or maybe I need a tv in the coop.

About me. I'm almost 49. Bi-polar, a closet agoraphobe who doesn't play well with others IRL. People kinda give me the creeps sometimes. I live in East Tennessee but grew up in Alabama, then moved to Houston in my late teens. I have 2 grown children, my DD (and her DD) lives with me, as does my brother. I'm married to a total dork...but we love him. I would throw all of them off a cliff for my Grandbaby, Maddy. I had no idea grandkids could do that to you...I am completely in love with this child. We have 2 dogs, Daisy the great dane and Lexxy, my DD's daschund. One cat named Princess Buttercup, about 5 caterpillars and 8 chickens: Diego (WLH and alpha roo), Max and Prince Eric (BO roos who were supposed to be hens), Henny Boo Boo (BO), Dora the Explorer (WLH), and 3 red sex links, Ruby, Rosie and Paprika. We are also trying our first hatch...those boys need more hens, and have 7 eggs in the incubator on day 11.

I like to garden and used to have a day lily addiction.

Whew! I think that's bout it for now.

Sandi

Hello! Nice to meet you. This is a great place to be. Hope you enjoy it here!!
 

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