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"Bees don't have lungs, so squeezing them doesn't "suffocate" them" Yes it does, they have to flex their abdomen like and accordion to breath through their trachea tubes so squeezing them will suffocate them.

Apparently this is much more common then I thought, lol! I have heard they can discard an unresponsive queen but I am having my doubts that they just toss fainters, maybe non breathers, lol!

DorsetB - thanks for the interesting info! I use Titebond II to glue the discs to the queens. I am very, very, sure it does not release toxic fumes that would do harm to the queen. Yes it is a strange solution to glue discs to queens but it was figured out by a very respected queen breeder...

How many of you have seen queens faint during or after marking a queen? How long does it take to recover? Anything that can be done to avoid fainting? I marked a queen a little over a week ago in a push up cage. After marking the beauty she would not move. I though I had killed her. She was...

Here is the information you want on this subject. It is also a great time to use oxalic if you make splits with swarm cells right after the queen is mated. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1186&context=entomologyfacpub

I keep Italians and maybe your bees swarm behavior is different than the common Italians we have in the states. I just went to a yard two days ago and found three preparing to swarm. Two had capped queen cells in them and I found the queen in both after several nice days that would not have...

You have to make a choice, either take the risk of a swarm, or come back in a few days. I personally don't think they will swarm on you in seven days from egg. I usually still find the queen one week from an inspection from finding eggs in cups. I actually usually still find the queen a week...

near future? "It has been used in industrial scale over 10 years. That is a typical pray from 2 hive owners. OA EFFICACY....? When you look internet, there are tens of researches there. Millions of dollars have been spent to researches. And you love dust sugar method...." It has been used...

Hopefully the answer to OA efficacy on varroa will be reveled in the near future and its understanding will allow for even more effective use of OA against varroa all while being more friendly to our bees.

" I've re-read this thread a couple of times and just can't find any justifiable reason for knocking Oliver's efforts. Perhaps some one can explain " There is no reason to knock off Olivers efforts. Read his OA trials. As far as I can remember he does not once make a claim he knows what kills...

"Forget that "Randy, the science beekeeper in USA". He does not have a single new information or solution to varroa problem. He just mix old and new information and out his own believings inside the issue. He writes more than think." Nobody is saying he has any new information. Information on...

“ These countries have very high food hygieny level too and they do not accept what ever results beeresearches give. “ This would be the norm almost everywhere you go with just about all research. If otherwise we would most likely not even be discussing this topic. “ The problem of USA is...

Randy Oliver - A great beekeeper “ If you meand Randy Oliver as "scientific beekeeper", forget it. Has has done no researches about oxalic acid. “ Randy has done several trials with oxalic acid. Randy does trials with many varoacides. And the fact that Randy has not done "peer reviewed lab...

Interesting angle to Oxalic acid efficasy For what its worth, here is some info from Randy olivers website here in the USA. The info below is from the following link. Additional info at this link may be of interest...

Hopefully the coming depression will be over.

Dont forget, its not only the bee that can evolve but the mite as well. It is the opinion of many that those who go treatment free may not only have mite resistant bees but less aggressive mites. If you only split colonies that survive are you selecting for mite resistance or less aggressive...

From what I have read, the bee must maintain a temp of 45F to be able to fly. If its wing muscles fall below this they are doomed. Yes bees will take cleansing flights at temps below this. But they must return in short order or they simply fall like stones to the ground/snow and are done for...

I would add a five frame box. I dont know what style frames you use but if its a five deep frame lang nuc, I would add another box of deep frames or mediums or shallows if you have them. If you have extra frame of stores available use those, otherwise put the nuc with stores, and bees on top...

Bee stings also have formic acid!

Hive maker. Yes you are probably right about most queen deaths being due to balling. However, If I remember right formic is a 1 to 2 or something like that for strength needed to kill the mites versus bees. Meaning it only takes twice the strength lethal to mites to be lethal to the bees...