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Author Topic: Queen Trapping for Varroa  (Read 3541 times)

Offline asleitch

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Queen Trapping for Varroa
« on: March 18, 2005, 08:11:21 am »
Has anyone here tried queen trapping for varroa control? Any comments?

I like the idea that by restricting the queen to a single frame, and replacing it and providing another fresh frame over several brood cycles once the cells are capped over, and the frame removed the mites are eliminated from the hive and it is highly effective at almost totally eliminating varroa.

It's heavily labour intensive in that you have to repeatadly return to the hive, and swop out a frame, and remove the queen cells that appear in the first week after you trap her, but I thought I'd like to have a go.

My local bee inspector tells me if you time it just right before the honey flow, you don't loose any foraging bees for the main flow, you cut the amount of brood during this period so you get more honey, less bees in August when you don't need them, and once released the queen is still able to build numbers to normal levels by the start of winter.

As I see it, you can't loose expect for labour involved. I've read you need a carefully prepared frame to swop with the one thats capped, as the proplis can stop the trap being shut properly, and you need to be extra careful not to loose you queen during the swop - but preperation and observation is normal practice anyway.

Anyone tried this, or can comment on it? The cost of frame traps to keep the queen restricted to one frame are quite expensive, but then its a "once only" investment.

I thought I'd post in the main forum as its related to improved honey collection as well as varroa control

Adam

From a supplier website:



Made in all standard sizes.

   1. Confine the queen on an empty comb and place in the trap
   2. After 7 days, remove the frame and substitute another frame with the queen trapped again
   3. After 18 days, both frames will be filled of sealed brood and, hopefully, full of varroa mites trapped with the only brood available to them.

   4. Remove both frames and destroy

Offline Finsky

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Queen Trapping for Varroa
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2005, 09:23:47 am »
There is no use to "trap" queen for that reason.  I have thinked over that Dutch methot to catch mites during summer. I make that next summer
with those hives which are suitable for treatment.

There are 2 chances to execute that

1) when you stop swarming fever
2)  make queenles hive for main honey flow,  "bood brake"

If you take queen away, it is unnecessary to leave it in the hive in cage.  Also when you return the queen, it is better to be the new one.

I have used a lot that brood brake. I take queen away for main honeyflow.  They are without brood 2 weeks and then I give them a new queen.  2 weeks brare means that hive has only free mites which can be catched away with drone larvas. When you give a new queen into hive, you take the rest brood frames away with their mites.

When a new queen starts egg laying, you give big drone larvas to hive. Free mites enter the droneframe and you pick them away.

When you have the rest brood, bees will hatch during one week and all mites are now free.  (Drone pupas are still there). You put into nuc  drone larvas which catch mites away. Also you have a virgin queen in the brood nuc.  

After these operations you have a mite free hive, a mite free nuc and 2 new queens.   Operation must be done so that it doest not violate honey yield.