Finally got my varroa treatments on

[ShinySideUp]

I have been waiting (im)patiently for the bees to finish capping the honey so I could get it off and start varroa treatment in the form of Apivar strips and have finally got them in. I did an inspection on Saturday during which I was roundly attacked by the most prolific colony; it is prolific in bees, honey supers and downright feistiness. Anyway, got the varroa strips in at last and this evening I crept into the apiary and pulled out a couple of varroa floors and I am not a moment too soon getting the treatment in as the floors are bursting with varroa (only been in since Saturday). I feel it may explain why this one colony, and to some extent the others too, are not being the friendliest at the moment. I think I would be quite unhappy if I was covered in mites the size of saucers.

One cause for this huge mite load I think is that I missed my Christmas OA trickle last year as the mite drop was negligible after a late Apivar treatment last October. I shan't make that mistake this year.

I would like to be able to OA vape but I have a beard that I am not allowed to shave off (wife thinks I look like my mother if I do -- I don't) and can't get a face filter to fit properly because of it so if anyone has a similar problem I'd love to know how you get round it when vaping OA.

 

[Erichalfbee]

JBM has a mightily luxurious beard. I'm sure he'll be along with some advice shortly......

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A lot of rubbish is spoken about beards and filter masks - respirators is a different matter - but even that was not an issue at fire school - they monitored my mask performance alongside a baby faced new trainee and there was hardly a difference. Just trim it a bit tighter when you need to use a mask
You could even go old school - look at the photographs of all the Victorian water fairies - flowing beards were almost compulsory, when they had to go into a smoke filled room they just stuffed their beards into their mouths as a filter.

 

[Erichalfbee]

You could even go old school - look at the photographs of all the Victorian water fairies - flowing beards were almost compulsory, when they had to go into a smoke filled room they just stuffed thir beards into their mouths as a filter.

I love it
I knew you'd have the answer !

 

[mazzamazda]

My apprentice complains of the same, cutting the beard is out of the question. I believe the RAF have only recently allowed trimmed beards for just this reason.

Good news on the Apivar, it is hands down the best treatment for colonies with high loads.

 

[citrus]

I would like to be able to OA vape but I have a beard that I am not allowed to shave off (wife thinks I look like my mother if I do -- I don't) and can't get a face filter to fit properly because of it so if anyone has a similar problem I'd love to know how you get round it when vaping OA.

I feel your pain ... but I trim down to a thin goatee ready for the mask

 

[SDM]

One cause for this huge mite load I think is that I missed my Christmas OA trickle last year as the mite drop was negligible after a late Apivar treatment last October. I shan't make that mistake this year.

Unnaturally warm spells in jan/feb/March kicked off serious brood rearing, giving us an extra month or so of mite doubling. That'll have had a major effect for everyone