seen a mite on a bee today

[rookie2531]

I saw a bee on the entrance and looked dead laying on its side. I picked it up and took it to the garage to examine it. I set it on the work bench where the sun was touching so I could get a good look. It looked like a mite on its lower back, below the wing. I saw she wasn't dead but just breathing. It was a mite, and just when I was going to grab a razor, she began moving. About a minute later she flew off. I just did a second OAV yesterday, (torch method) maybe I burned it too fast? She looked young with lots of fuzz on her thorax. That mite should have been dead unless she emerged after treatment, which why would she be on entrance and why dead looking but not dead? Confused

[Michael Bush]

Probably just cold.

[jayj200]

Michael Bush
what us bee chloroform can one use it to kill mites without harming bees?

[rookie2531]

Probably just cold.

That's what I was thinking when she awoke and flew, but to see a mite close to her stinger just after an OAV, tells me I must have done it wrong.

[johng]

That's one reason it is always a good idea to do before and after mite counts and it really doesn't matter which mite treatment you use. By monitoring you will know how well your treatment worked. It is a lot more work but you will have peace of mind that the treatment worked. When Apistan use to be a common treatment folks would use it spring and fall with very good results. Well then the mites started building resistance to Apistan and it caught a lot of people by surprise. I'm not suggesting they have become resistance to OAV because I doubt they have. But, if you will do some sampling you will know for sure how good your vaporizer is working. If you have screened bottom boards on your hives you can put a sticky board under the hive and you should see a large mite fall for the first few days after your treatment. 

[rookie2531]

That's one reason it is always a good idea to do before and after mite counts and it really doesn't matter which mite treatment you use. By monitoring you will know how well your treatment worked. It is a lot more work but you will have peace of mind that the treatment worked. When Apistan use to be a common treatment folks would use it spring and fall with very good results. Well then the mites started building resistance to Apistan and it caught a lot of people by surprise. I'm not suggesting they have become resistance to OAV because I doubt they have. But, if you will do some sampling you will know for sure how good your vaporizer is working. If you have screened bottom boards on your hives you can put a sticky board under the hive and you should see a large mite fall for the first few days after your treatment. 

I have IPM boards, and did see a lot of mites after the first AOV but after the second, not so many which made me think that the first one got most of them. I did not see a mite all summer until I treated. I looked for them even during inspections, all summer. And to see one attached, after all summer looking, was a surprise. I must have did a semi-failed vaporization, using the torch method. And it is hit and miss as to not burning it too hot, too quick.