>This is my first year with bees and I read Beekeeping for Dummies which said the first season I should not have to medicate the colony. Is this true?
I never medicate mine at all. For anything. In 31 years I've only medicated at all during 3 of those and that was four years ago. But if you mean can the varroa kill a colony in one year. Yes they can. So ignoring Varroa is never a good idea.
> Does anyone have suggestions about medication and pest control I should plan to do the first season, or am I good until the following spring?
Personally, I'd get on small cell (4.9mm foundation) or natural sized cells (no foundation) and never medicate.
Medicating just to be medicating is always a bad idea. Monitor the mites. Get a sticky board, or make one. Or use a tray under your Screened Bottom Board, if you have one. Or do a powdered sugar roll. Or uncap some drone brood and look for mites. Quantify the problem first. Watch the numbers and see if they are going up rapidly. If they are, then you need to do something. If you're on typical foundation this WILL happen, you just want to know WHEN it happens.
If you really want to treat, I've found Oxalic Acid vapor the most effective and least harmful to the bees.