Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => DISEASE & PEST CONTROL => Topic started by: Grant on May 24, 2005, 10:17:42 am

Title: mite control
Post by: Grant on May 24, 2005, 10:17:42 am

After catching a swarm when is the best time to start medicating them  for mite control ?

Title: mite control
Post by: Phoenix on May 24, 2005, 11:51:06 am

I will assume that you are referring to Varroa Destructor and not Tracheal Mites.  Some of us don't medicate at all and would not recommend it, but rather use an organic and IPM method of parasitic management.  But, first and foremost, you must monitor in order to know whether they need meds.  Those that medicate blindly just add to the med restistant mites.

If you choose to medicate, and with a swarm of unknown origin, it might not be a bad idea to at least quarentine them and treat right off the bat, Oxalic Acid would be a blanket treatment that would at least give them a head start on ridding them of parasites, then monitor.

Title: mite control
Post by: Michael Bush on May 24, 2005, 12:46:25 pm

>After catching a swarm when is the best time to start medicating them for mite control ?

IMO never.  I don't medicate them.  IMO put them on small cell.  Monitor mite loads.  If you never have a problem, don't do anything at all.

Title: mite control
Post by: Grant on May 24, 2005, 06:35:33 pm

Last year I lost  two of them I keep in the backyard hivesand two other around the county to what I thought was a mite problem.  My buddy  talked to one beekeeper that had 10000hives and he sid they lost 3400 hives last year ..I guess they were all over the U.S. seems liike a lot.Thanks for the input.