distorted wings:-( very sad

[dickndoris]

Had to put some bees out of misery today. I hate this kind of thing and in a way feel so responsible. I did have apiguard on for 4 weeks and took it off 3 weeks ago. There was only a small amount of mite drop, maybe 6ish a day so was just going to do the acid dribble over Christmas to wipe the suckers but alas they may have won. 20 - 30 young bees walking away from the hive wondering what was going on. They seemed to walk a long way, 20 mtrs + seemingly on a mission. Maybe its in their programming that they just have to go foraging no matter what?
I have now put another apiguard on while the weather is kind of mild. 15' here today and very active bees.
Have put some pictures on as they might be of interest to some?

Rich

 

[Lois]

I'm so sorry you had to do that.

 

[Flatters]

Sorry to see that Dick and Doris. I am lucky so far and not seen any of my bees like this.

Whilst you put them out of their misery, does anyone else known if having bees in the hive with deformed wings is totally a disaster? If they are in the hive and perform housekeeping then at least they are adding something to the colony? It is only when they try and fly that they finish their usefulness.

I am not sure that Apiguard so late in the year will make much difference. In the NW it is forecast good for tomorrow but down to 9 degrees from Monday on wards and so Apiguard would be useless. Maybe better and treat with OA later if that is your preference.

 

[susan2016]

Very sorry to hear of your trouble.

 

[colinlee]

iceing sugar

dickndorris,

I had this year about the same time ,sprinkle a cup full of iceing sugar over the frames in the b/b.this will encourage the bees to clean them selfs I found it works .Its a natural cleaning method ..

 

[yeogi75]

darenot show wife she will worry we will get the same sorry to here about them
a girls duty to the hive no matter what hardships
to the bees

 

[For want of a better word]

Very worrying...... do you have a very high varroa mite infestation?

could be....... deformed wing virus..............

I don't think icing sugar is going to help!

 

[itma]

dickndorris,

I had this year about the same time ,sprinkle a cup full of iceing sugar over the frames in the b/b.this will encourage the bees to clean them selfs I found it works .Its a natural cleaning method ..

Do it.

It'll reduce the mite load on the mature bees, but most of your problem is going to be inside capped cells.
Ordinary icing sugar. Not castor. Not granulated. Icing sugar - its a powder.
Use it dry.
Just put a couple of spoonfuls in a sieve and, above the bees, tap the side of the sieve with your hand so that a 'snow' of sugar falls on the bees.

Because its not VERY effective, repeat it any/every time you are opening up.


Importantly, you can get it even at the weekend. Like now.
People may suggest using a 'hive sanitiser' rather than sugar, BUT, if you decide to try that, until you get your hands on some - use icing sugar.
You might think of using Oxalic now, even though it also won't touch the mites on sealed brood. So, if you do, you'll have to do it again in a month or so.
Icing sugar seems much more benign, and thus much more repeatable, even if each individual treatment is less effective.

Reduce the varroa, and ... hopefully ... the virus can be handled by the bees.
But unless the mites are clobbered, and quick, you aren't likely to have very much of a colony left in the spring.

Problem is, there's not much other than sugar (and maybe hive sanitiser) that would be effective at this time of year.
The thymol stuff (inc Apiguard) needs proper warm weather.
As I understand it, even Apistan/Bayvarol want 10C minimum, because it depends on the bees being active, rather than clustered, for 4 weeks minimum. Even I am not THAT optimistic about a mild winter.
So, you come back to icing sugar as something you can do now. The major risk is simply opening the hive.



How are their stores? With reduced foraging, you should be wondering whether fondant is needed or going to be needed.

 

[For want of a better word]

The major risk is simply opening the hive.

Oxallic Vaporisation ?

low intervention and effective

 

[itma]

The major risk is simply opening the hive.

Oxallic Vaporisation ?

low intervention and effective

Needs kit. Thus needs time before starting (and needs money spent).
Needs Health&Safety consideration (to nearby humans).
Not something for tomorrow.

And still only hits phoretic mites.

By the time he's ready to try vapourisation, he could have hit several times with sugar. Starting tomorrow.
At much less personal risk.

But by all means consider it.

However, the conclusion would likely depend on whether or not you were already set-up and trained in its use.

 

[dickndoris]

Thanks all for the advice. Icing sugar blitz it is starting tomorrow. Will see what the outcome of a day, a warm day today of the Apiguard was also. Desperate measures eh!!
The colony is only small, maybe over 5 frames as it was a swarm I collected late on. Should have put an apiguard on when they were housed. You learn everyday looking after these wee things but loving it even in the sad moments........

 

[oliver90owner]

At a guess, the apiguard did not work as it should have done.

Question, now, is whether it will work any better than previous.

As these bees have been raised in the last 3-4 weeks, it makes one wonder what proportion of the winter bees are already infected with pathogens (but not as apparent as these) from reproducing mites feeding on the developng bees.

20-30 young bees may not be a lot but it may be the tip of the iceberg, so as to speak.

If it was a failed apiguard treatment you need to analyse why, to avoid repetition in the next round of treatment. Prognosis for a well-wintered colony in spring is not good, I think, but they can still pull through. That is assuming the DWV is directly attributable to a current high varroa count, which while the most likely reason, may not be the whole picture.

RAB

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Thanks all for the advice. Icing sugar blitz it is starting tomorrow. Will see what the outcome of a day, a warm day today of the Apiguard was also. Desperate measures eh!!
The colony is only small, maybe over 5 frames as it was a swarm I collected late on. Should have put an apiguard on when they were housed. You learn everyday looking after these wee things but loving it even in the sad moments........

A swarm whilst broodless can be treated with Oxalic Acid. I did it for the first time this year with 2 colonies and they took no notice; no apparent harm but it did knock the mites down. With apiguard you may cause them to abscond if done too early - before they are settled in or if the weather is hot and the apiguard vaporises quickly.


I'm not convinced that icing sugar will be particularly effective.

 

[Baggyone]

Mite count seems an obvious thing to do as well as the icing sugar. Just to let you know how things are.

 

[Heather]

You might think of using Oxalic now, even though it also won't touch the mites on sealed brood. So, if you do, you'll have to do it again in a month or so.
.

Did I totally misunderstand this quote?? Maybe referring to icing sugar repeat- but just in case others read it as I did....

NO You must only do ONE treatment of oxalic acid annually.

 

[Hivemaker.]

NO You must only do ONE treatment of oxalic acid annually.

Depends on which type of oxalic acid treatment is being used,sublimation can be used several times.

And according to the below, so can the trickle method,even at 4.2%.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17624673

Abstract

Oxalic acid field trails for the control of varroosis (Varroa destructor) were carried out in an apiary located on the Mt. Imittos (Attica, Greece). The colonies received four successive applications (approximately one every 16 days) with 4.2% oxalic acid (OA) and 60% sugar solution by trickling method with two alternative types of syringes (an automatic self-filling dosing and a single-use) from the broodright to broodless period. The results indicate that the first three applications (from 6th October to 25th November-broodright period) resulted in 65.3% cumulative mite mortality, while only the last application (after the 26th November-broodless period) resulted in 77.3% mite mortality. Very low outern temperatures reduce to the minimum the bee movability, which may result into a slower development of the OA efficacy. No poor colony growth or queen loss were observed even if the bee colonies were received the four successive OA applications with the last one taken place at a very low outern temperature (6.2 degrees C). The trickling method using an automatic-filling syringe seems to be a very quick way for applying oxalic acid in large apiaries (approximately 150hives/h).