Varroa treatment

[Modenacart]

I did a sitcky board inspection for varroa mites and got a count of 63 mites over 24 hours.  I have about 7 full frames of bees and I thought it is time to treat.  I don't want to use chemicals but I think it is too late in the season for mechanical treatments.  I have thought about using Api Var Life. 

Just wanted to get people's opininons on what to do. 

[Finski]

a count of 63 mites over 24 hours.  I have about 7 full frames of bees

-  I don't want to use chemicals but

- mechanical treatments. 

- I have thought about using Api Var Life. 

Just wanted to get people's opininons on what to do. 

It is huge load of mites and only 7 frames.

- there is no mechanical treatments to mites, not at least efficient.
- Api Var has composition: 100 g of product contains Thymol natural crystals 74g.

Thymol is very good treatment in fall.

I hope that your brood are not the last before autumn, because they are heavily violated. It means a small cluster and not much healty bees.


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Nobody wants chemicals but who wants hive to die?

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[Modenacart]

Mybe I am counting wrong because I see only a few on the bees when I inspect.  Less than five. 

Just ordered the API Life Var.

[Finski]

When You see mites on bees, Things are Bad then.
80% are in brood.

[Modenacart]

I would expect seeing a couple of mites after inspecting all the frames would be normal.  This is what you get from sugar shake, right?

[RHBee]

MAQS. I don't think the temperature range is out of spec yet. This will get the mites under the cappings.

[Modenacart]

Right now temperature range is between 57 - 73 F.  Should hold for the next three weeks.

[dfizer]

Agreed that the mite away quick strips are the way to go.  your temps are right for this treatment also, this treatment is only a 1 time / 1 week treatment.  basically it's a formic acid treatment.  you also can use this treatment while supers are still on, although that's probably is not the case now. 

Remember to use thick latex gloves for handling this treatment as it's pretty caustic. 

I'd treat ASAP if I were you.  The mite counts you report sound far too high going into winter.

David

[Finski]

Mybe I am counting wrong because I see only a few

Try to be honest to your self. Optimism does not help in beekeeping.

First you count 64 mites and then perhaps few. These calculations does not work.

7 frames of bees. HOw much the hive has brood?
How much  you see wingless bees when they emerge?

[RHBee]

Right now temperature range is between 57 - 73 F.  Should hold for the next three weeks.

Just for information, how old is this colony?
Listen to Finski, he has a few years battling mites. I'm one of those who treat for varroa w/o checking for mite load. I believe that if you have bees you have mites just like SHB and wax moth. I don't arbitrarily use antibiotics.  Unless needed, indiscriminate antibiotic use has been proven to breed resistive bacteria.
I respect and agree with the guys who adamantly oppose treatments in an attempt to create better bees through natural selection. I'm just not willing to accept the losses.

[Modenacart]

The colony is about two months old. I have seen them kicked out bees with deformed wings not seen any on the frames.

This is my first time doing a my mite count on a bottom board and I sprayed it with Pam to get them to stick.

When the rain clears I will do an inspection and get a brood count also.

I ordered some API life varand it should be here this weekend I'll treat with that

[RHBee]

The colony is about two months old. I have seen them kicked out bees with deformed wings not seen any on the frames.

This is my first time doing a my mite count on a bottom board and I sprayed it with Pam to get them to stick.

When the rain clears I will do an inspection and get a brood count also.

I ordered some API life varand it should be here this weekend I'll treat with that

Wow, 2 months old and already having DWV. Was this a package or nuc?

Does API life get under the caps?

[Modenacart]

Nuc.

[Finski]

Wow, 2 months old and already having DWV. Was this a package or nuc?

Bad contamination of mites can happen when ever, if you have bad luck. If there is nearby a hive, which is almost dieing for varroa, and another hive rob the hive, robbers get a huge load mites at once, and its own brood will be ruined.

[RHBee]

Nuc.

Ok. If you buy another nuc from the same place treat for mites as soon as you get them. They had to be loaded when you got them.
At the risk of angering some of the guys that sell nucs, packages happen to get a brood break that interrupts the mite breeding cycle. I think a package on drawn comb is the best bet. I got some nucs before that came with problems.

[MsCarol]

Struggling New Bee here

DWV = Deformed wing virus????

This is fall. I see MANY red wasps with DWV (If that is what it means). Mostly crawling around the rain water tanks at the edge of the old house where they live.  IS is contagious to the bees?

What should be my tactic????

[RHBee]

Struggling New Bee here

DWV = Deformed wing virus????

This is fall. I see MANY red wasps with DWV (If that is what it means). Mostly crawling around the rain water tanks at the edge of the old house where they live.  IS is contagious to the bees?

What should be my tactic????

Do they look like this? It is my understanding that varroa is a carrier of deformed wing virus, DWV. One sign of heavy infestation is seeing bees with wings like this.

If this were my colony I would treat. Fall treatment helps raise healthy winter bees. I don't know if DWV is can be passed from wasps to honeybees.
Again I don't know if API life is able to treat bee larvae under capping. I do know that MAQS will treat capped brood

[Modenacart]

If you treat over three weeks that will be one cycle and get the ones that were in capped brood.

[MsCarol]

Not seeing anything of the like in the bees,

but have observed the "weird wings" in the Red Wasps every year. Hence my question.

Doing a "natural drop" check/count as I type. (SBB)

As we still have several weeks of decent weather (under normal circumstances) and I would like to avoid chemical treatments, I might do a 3 cycle sugar thing (1 week apart) to encourage them to get rid of the bulk of mites before cold weather.

[Finski]

 I might do a 3 cycle sugar thing (1 week apart) to encourage them to get rid of the bulk of mites before cold weather.

That trick is humbug. It has been verified that it does not work. 80% of mites are under brood cappings. No stuff affect on them.

In warm climates where there is no brood brake, mite treatment is difficult.

One way is take frood frames away, if they are only couple. Then give oxalic acid trickling and you get very good results.
But even if there are brood brake, trickling does not work alone. You need  thymol or formic acid treatment before autrumn that winter bees are not violated by mites.


Then you have Beatles method: Let It Be

Let It Be - The Beatles - Lyrics