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Author Topic: I am afraid my hive is a goner.  (Read 2343 times)

Offline Rodni73

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I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« on: October 26, 2008, 10:24:57 pm »
An average of 40 to 80 deformed bees are popping out of my hive and committing suicide by jumping off in the grass.  Back in August this hive did not have a problem with Veroa mites.  Starting September I have a problem that I tried to remedy by using apiguard.  In the beginning it was not a big deal but now I think I might loose this hive.  Even after 4 weeks of treatment and two trays of Apiguard my queen is not laying anymore and the mite infestation is slowly taking its toll.  I checked the bees today and there are a lot of healthy bees!!!  One deep and three medium frames filled with bees but the mites are there also and they are hurting the bees!  Let’s say on average 60 young bees are emerging deformed since the problem started in September.. that mean so far 3660 young bees have died.. 3660 bees that’s a lot for a fall population that will be crashing soon because of age….! Every morning my sticky board is covered with dead mites… now the bees are removing the solid Apiguard leftover from the top and dragging it over to the entrance and in the process it appears they are killing more mites as that awful smelling substance is dragged from top to bottom but every now and then I see a bee at the entrance with a mite on it’s back.  I am trying to learn as fast as I can but I am surprised by how fast the mites were able to establish themselves and in such a short period kill so many bees.

Should I open another tray of Apiguard and leave it over the winter?

Regards to all
-Rodni



Offline rast

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2008, 10:57:18 pm »
 " Back in August this hive did not have a problem with Veroa mites."
 Yeah, it did. WE just didn't recognize the problem at the time.
 
   "In the beginning it was not a big deal "
 Yeah, it was. My bee inspector told me that if I even suspected a problem, verify it immediately and remedy it immediately. Not to wait a week or two.

  "my queen is not laying anymore"
 Unfortunately, that may be the weather/temp in your area. Is any nectar still coming in, if not she will shut down mites or no mites.

 "I am surprised by how fast the mites were able to establish themselves"
 Wax moths are faster after mites weaken the hives.

 Having never used apiguard or any of that, just sugar dusting (but not often enough) I can't answer that. I have made an Oxalic Acid vaporizer to use.
 
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Offline BjornBee

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2008, 11:37:30 pm »
I don't have the figures in front of me, but the average mite count during the year looked something like those below. This is an average, using a sugar shake, with thousands of hives tested by the Pa. state ag. department.

April 1
May 2
June 4
July  5
Aug  8
Sept 22
Oct  35

And this is the same pattern also every year, as conducted and seen by the state inspectors. Mites will have a 4 to 10 times multiplication factor between the middle of August and the middle of October.

You can have low mite counts almost all year long. But when August rolls around, thats when the problems start. And this is why early treatment at that time, prior to the fall brood cycle is best, if your going to treat.

Can I ask, what type bees are you running?
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Offline Rodni73

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2008, 11:41:29 pm »
They are Italians! born and bred in Georgia..! if they do not survive I am going for once to listen to the wisdom of Mr. Buch and buy local bees!

-Thanks
-Rodni

Offline BjornBee

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2008, 11:44:13 pm »
They are Italians! born and bread in Georgia..! if they do not survive I am going for once to listen to the wisdom of Mr. Buch and buy local bees!

-Thanks
-Rodni

No need for me to go further...  8-)
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2008, 07:31:35 am »
Bjorn isn't that far from you and he sells some untreated queens.  :)
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Offline KONASDAD

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2008, 11:41:37 am »
Rodni- there are plenty of local sellers in NJ. Join NJBA if you havent, and you'll get hooked into local news. One gentlemen near you sells russian nucs and many of my club members love his bees. Great wintereres, strong spring buildup and gentle too. I would also gather few hanging swarms in the spring for genetic diversity.

Many, many newbies miss the signs of mites until its too late. They were there in August, you just didnt know where to look. Every hive I inspected for a newbie had mites this year. The flow crashed mid-july, fall flow was weak(lots of floweres, no nectar) and the mites are opportunists and took over. The queen also stopped laying because the weather has turned colder
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Offline Rodni73

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2008, 06:05:31 pm »
Thanks for the constructive feedback. I will wait till the spring and see if this hives pulls it off. Although I highly doubt it.
If it makes it.. I will treat it in the spring.. If not I will get me a local nuc from a local bee keeper and hope all will work well.

-Rodni

Offline Kathyp

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2008, 07:16:53 pm »
don't waste the apiguard.  it needs to be warm for it to work.

you can do PS dusting to try to knock off the mites.  at this point, you have nothing to lose by dusting aggressively.  more often than the every 10 days or so that is recommended.  also, you will probably go broodless during the winter.  your winters are cold enough.  that breaks the mite cycle.  if you can save the bees in a nuc or one deep and get them through the winter....and don't lose the queen, you may have a chance of rebuilding in the spring.  if nothing else, they will be a learning experience for you.

i'd shake them out of the med. and just use the deep.  if there is brood in the medium, use an excluder until it is hatched and then shake them down.
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Offline KONASDAD

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Re: I am afraid my hive is a goner.
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2008, 08:33:32 pm »
I would also ffed them a sugar board and some pollen in february since their stores are probably low. Your hive should weigh about 75lbs minimally for our area for enough feed ijn winter. We get days of warm, followed by cold in february and early march and they start to raise brood and they run out of food very quickly. I use Robos sugar board recipe.
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