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Author Topic: advice for first mite appearance  (Read 7516 times)

Offline kansas

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advice for first mite appearance
« on: October 11, 2007, 12:22:50 pm »
Hi all-  I went out to my hive this morning (new as of april) and spotted an immature broodling dying on the landing board with a mite on its belly.  I haven't treated w/ anything other than what was given to the bees before I got them in the spring.  It's too late in the season and to do a shake down to small size comb.  Any advice on what I could do this fall to help the hive make it through the winter and minimize the damage from the present varroa?

Offline Moonshae

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2007, 10:02:03 pm »
Hopefully you checked for a mite drop at the end of summer/beginning of fall, and determined that you didn't need to treat. The larva being there on your landing board means that your nicely hygenic bees determined it was a loser and removed it.

I don't know anything about cool weather treatments, but I know it's too late for apiguard here.
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Offline Robo

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2007, 10:07:04 pm »
Did you monitor for varroa thru the summer?   Fall is when varroa numbers peak and the most difficult for the colony to survive as brood rearing stops.   The first thing you need to do is evaluate the mite load.   Oxalic acid might still be an option.
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Offline kansas

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2007, 12:40:02 pm »
Thanks for the replies. 

I haven't noticed any other mites, and I do check my bees fairly reguraly.  My thoughts are that the mite load isn't extreme by any means.  Robo, are you talking about doing a visual inspection of the frames when you suggest doing a mite load check- looking at the adult bees?

Offline Robo

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2007, 12:47:34 pm »
A simple inspection is to rip open 10 or so sealed drone brood cells and inspect for mites.  They show up relatively well on the white larvae.  This is the method I mostly use.  If you get more that one with mites, I would suggest a more accurate test.

A more accurate method would be a sticky board drop test or ether roll.
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Offline Old Timer

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2007, 02:50:49 pm »
 apistan or checkmite is not weather dependent. when i used to use it, i would put it in at the middle of oct and take it out dec 1rst with great results.

Offline Robo

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2007, 03:00:22 pm »
i don't think apistan or checkmite is weather dependent.
I know apistan strips need to be removed at a specific time which can be problematic with winter weather.  If left in for too long, it leads to resistant mites.


I don't think either of these are on kansas' list of options as he posted in natural and organic beekeeping methods.

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Offline Old Timer

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2007, 03:41:59 pm »
>I know apistan strips need to be removed at a specific time which can be problematic with winter weather.  If left in for too long, it leads to resistant mites. I don't think either of these are on kansas' list of options as he posted in natural and organic beekeeping methods.


i know that if left in to long, the mites become resistant because of the lower amount of chemicals they are exposed to. if they don't get a lethal does, they build up a tolerance or resistance. you should only use it in a period of six weeks or less. i forget exactly what the label says, but when i used it i'd leave it in for six weeks. if he is in an area where weather is going to play a factor, i was giving him another option. the thymol in apigaurd has to come into contact with the mite or the vapors has to be inhaled by the mite to kill it. if it's too cold, the gel may become more of a solid and not be transferred to the mite efficiently. oxalic acid, formic acid - something about putting ACID in a hive just does not sound organic at all to me. i do not like putting anything in my hives but frames and foundation. imho, anything else is not organic to a hive.  i used to treat for varoa, when i thought i HAD to, before i knew how to better manage my bees against varoa. it just depends on how far you are personally willing to go save a hive with varoa. if they can't handle it themselves, i don't want them. an ether roll doesn't sound very organic either. try a sugar roll, that way you don't kill your bees with a compound chemical.

Offline Robo

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2007, 04:10:39 pm »
that is the problem with the term organic,  everyone has there own definition.

oxalic, formic and acetic acid are all naturally occurring organic acids.

Every eat sorrel, rhubarb, buckwheat, black pepper, parsley, spinach, chard, or  beets?  All of these have significant concentration of oxalic acid.

I agree an ether roll is not organic, but it is not something you do to a hive.  I would recommend the 24hr drop test as first choice.

I personally wouldn't consider foundation as organic unless you are making it yourself.  Otherwise it most likely contains all the lingering hard chemicals such as aspitan and checkmite used by the commercial beekeepers that supply the majority of the wax used to make foundation.
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Offline Kirk-o

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2007, 10:51:54 pm »
Well just do the best you can and get them on small cell in the spring
kirko
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Offline Kathyp

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2007, 10:54:57 pm »
not to late to do the powdered sugar on flying days.

Apiguard is 'natural', but temp dependent.

Old Timer, in theory, your way would be best, but members have lost all their bees to mites and attendant diseases.  that's not very cost effective and quite discouraging.  i also note that some members have no mite problems, while others are over run with them regardless of treatment.  perhaps it has something to do with where we live, or other beekeepers in the area?  

to treat or not (and with what) is a decision that needs to driven by loss tolerance and personal circumstances.....and as much knowledge as we can collect.......
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Offline Old Timer

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #11 on: October 13, 2007, 11:58:38 pm »
>Old Timer, in theory, your way would be best, but members have lost all their bees to mites and attendant diseases.  that's not very cost effective and quite discouraging.

tell me about it. in the spring of 96 i only had four hives left out of about thirty. it took me awhile to build back up. the state was giving away apistan the next fall to registered beekeepers. i had never even heard of a mite before. wanting to keep my bees through the winter, i started reading all i could about the varoa. i have been selecting queens to rear from from my survivor hives almost ever since. after a few years of this and after some studies came out on the effects of using the miticides, i decided to quit using them. i have had losses every year. so i suffer too. but the weak hives are gone and the survivors that are more resistant and hygienic get scrutinized the following year to raise queens out of the best to replace the sorrier ones. i really feel sorry for newer beekeepers coming in to beekeeping and having to worry about disease and parasites they have no idea about before they start beekeeping. much less without even knowing how to properly handle it.

> i also note that some members have no mite problems, while others are over run with them regardless of treatment.  perhaps it has something to do with where we live, or other beekeepers in the area?

true. imo, the ones without the problems are probably the more diligent in their management. any beekeeper can be blamed if they have poor management skills, and of course it's easiest to blame someone else. by not keeping good hygienic queens they promote the propagation of varoa. relying on treatments against mites should be a last defense. hygienic bees first, ipm practices second, then treatments as an absolute last resort if you want your nonresistant bees to survive. after the mite loads get heavy enough, don't you think your bees might carry some mites to flowers to be picked up by other people's bees or vice versa? a lot beekeepers, especially new inexperienced ones, have no idea what kind of queen they really have, other than just saying it's italian, russian, nwc, etc... there are good and bad of each strain but they never investigate to see which they have. climate may play a role, but if it does, why haven't i experienced losses like i did in 95/96? i believe it is because of my efforts to raise better queens for myself. i hope the best for us all and our bees the upcoming winter.

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #12 on: October 15, 2007, 12:37:03 am »
With the hive going into winter cluster soon, I would just treat with a couple of sugar shakes as the brood chamber will probably only be the size of a silver dollar with no drones.  The shakes will cause the adult mites to slip off their hosts, and if using SBB (like you should be), fall out of the hive.  The cold will kill them.  Those that remain in the brood will be few and should be taken care of by the bees natural hygenic behavior.  Hygenic behavior is much easier with a smaller brood area.

Do another shake in the spring just as brood production begins and you should be fine for the entire year.  People seem to be enamoured with complex solutions to simple problems.  The simple solution to varroa is proper timing of sugar shakes for the most effective shedding result and developing bees with resistance.  Everything else is, as Shakespeare would say, "Much ado about nothing."
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Offline kansas

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #13 on: October 15, 2007, 12:01:20 pm »
Brian,
Can you point me in the direction of sugar shake info/ instructions?  I'd like to know more.

Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: advice for first mite appearance
« Reply #14 on: October 15, 2007, 06:45:08 pm »
Sugar Shake Applicator: 

1 mason jar or equivalent
(pint or quart)
1 Kerr caning ring
3" sqaure of door screen

Cut door screen into circle and insert into Kerr canning ring.  Fill jar with powdered sugar.
put ring with screen on jar.  Open hive and sprinkle like a salt shaker between top bars of frames
in the brood chamber.
A pint jar should be able to do 5 hives in just a few minutes.
 
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