does most people on here use Fumidil B?

[biglongdarren]

do you's all use Fumidil B? even on good strong hives?
Darren.

 

[Black Comb]

I only use it if they've tested positive for nosema.

 

[Brosville]

Not with the proverbial ten-foot bargepole!

 

[Nic Rhodes]

never use as a preventative, use Thymol for that. Only use if you have a positive Nosema test and then treat whole apiary.

 

[tonybloke]

Not with the proverbial ten-foot bargepole!

how unexpected from you, Bros

 

[biglongdarren]

last winter was my first and i didnt use it,instead i was told to use oil of wintergreen,i used it in all my hives nad they all lived.
now this year i have been told to use it and i have been also told that most hives have nosema in some way or another?
someone else told me today to only use fumidil b on hives that have been slow at building up and that the strong hives dont need it.
am not sure what to do at the minute.
Darren

 

[melormynydd]

fumidil b is an antibiotic so not a good idea to use without the need to, could end up with the mites that cause nosema geting resistant. not good for anyone i think

 

[huntsman666]

I use it in the first autumn feed.

 

[Cazza]

fumidil b is an antibiotic so not a good idea to use without the need to,

Spot on. It should clearly not be used as a "just in case." Check for Nosema first and then use if levels are high.

Cazza

 

[Chris Luck]

No treatments at all...

....no surprises there.

Chris

 

[alanf]

fumidil b is an antibiotic so not a good idea to use without the need to

Agreed, true for antibiotics in general.

could end up with the mites that cause nosema geting resistant. not good for anyone i think

Is there a typo here? Nosema is a fungus, of the microsporidia type. It is spread through the excreta, bee to bee. Nosema is not caused or spread by mites. Try https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?pageid=191 for a general summary.

 

[petercurran]

No treatments at all...

....no surprises there.

Chris

i did baileys clean way system on a hive this summer worked a treat went from 7 frames in broad box to 2 full broad boxs now very strong

 

[Chris Luck]

That's fine if you have a problem I suppose but a bit OTT if you have a lot of hives and don't go in for non essential interventions like me.

Not on topic but I was speaking to a hobby keeper yesterday, (a Brit), who freezes all his super frames for two days before storage. Again this is fine of you have space in your freezers at this time of year and only a few hives to manage.

Chris

 

[bignikki]

Tested my bees for nosema the other day and one was teeming with nosema spores.
I would like to think that feeding with thymolated syrup would get them through the winter, but having just finished apiguard , when the whole hive has been steeped in thymol, I dont think this is very realistic. Is it?

 

[Nic Rhodes]

Tested my bees for nosema the other day and one was teeming with nosema spores.
I would like to think that feeding with thymolated syrup would get them through the winter, but having just finished apiguard , when the whole hive has been steeped in thymol, I dont think this is very realistic. Is it?

of course it is, I have had Thymol syrup on at the same time as Thymol varroa treatments. Treat your apriary with Fumidil B and use Thymol syrup. You stand a good chance of having healthy bees next year.

 

[bignikki]

I was hoping not to use fumidil,Just thymolated syrup.
I have been giving them a jar of thin syrup every 2 or 3 days and will test again next week to see if there's any improvement. If not then it's fumidil,unfortunately.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

If you have a high infection I would treat as it will spread to any other colonies through contaminated water. That means it may re appear at a later date if not dealt with now.

 

[bignikki]

Is thymolated syrup not a treatment for nosema then?
Or is it just understood to keep it at bay or has it, indeed, got no effect whatsoever?

 

[Nic Rhodes]

some text say no, personally I think it very beneficialand I recommend it but I would use Fumidil as the 'cure' and Thymol as the healthy 'preventative'.

 

[bignikki]

I reckon you'r probably right but like I say, another week on syrup then test again.
I will use fumadil , reluctantly , because I have had problems with nosema for a couple of years now.
The bee inspector did a proper lab test on them last year and when I got the results I had both apis AND cerana!
I suspect that it's probably cerana thats the problem just now, as it's summer but I suppose it doesn't matter which one it is, coz they wouldn't see the winter through with an infection like they have now.