First time mite drop count

[megadyptes]

I put a board under the OMF of my hive last week and left it in there for 7 days given I was out of they country. What with it being a new hive that's expanding from a swarm nuc and me being a newbie, I thought it was a good opportunity to just see what the mite drop might be like. I think I've spotted ~40 mites in amongst the debris on the board, which works out at as a fraction under 6 mites/day.

I didn't find the charts in the DEFRA booklet that obvious to interpret, so what are people's thoughts on this interpretation...

The count suggests a low level of infection that doesn't require an immediate treatment, but that something will be required before the winter in order to try and reduce the levels.

In with the beginners kit was an apiguard treatment, so I guess i can use this at some point in the future.

 

[wessexmario]

the general rule is to consider treatment when the drop is 10 mites per day or more.

With a current average of 6 per day and a normal mite population that doubles every month then that would suggest you'd anticipate going over that level in the next month or two.
but do monitor regularly, mite drops are notoriously erratic.

 

[megadyptes]

And how do you define 'regularly' - once a week, once a month, once a quarter, once a year, once in a blue moon?

 

[Davelin]

Do you have any supers on?

With the sort of drop you have there I would use the apiguard in mid-August time, but remove any honey for extraction first.

 

[megadyptes]

I recently added one super, but they're only just beginning to draw it out. The nuc only got transferred into the hive a month or so ago so I wasn't expecting a harvest this year. Mind you, if they really go for it in the next month then I just have to pinch a frame of two.

 

[Galaxy55]

Here is the advice on Beebase using your results-

Average Daily Mite Fall = 5.7 varroa mites
Estimated number of adult varroa mites in the colony = 230
Treatment is recommended in about 1 month(s) time (counting from day of first monitoring).

Here's the link to the varroa calculator,

http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/public/BeeDiseases/varroaCalculator.cfm?

If you do treat and you still have honey supers on take care to use a method that won't taint the honey.

 

[itma]

I put a board under the OMF of my hive last week and left it in there for 7 days given I was out of they country. What with it being a new hive that's expanding from a swarm nuc and me being a newbie, I thought it was a good opportunity to just see what the mite drop might be like. I think I've spotted ~40 mites in amongst the debris on the board, which works out at as a fraction under 6 mites/day.

I didn't find the charts in the DEFRA booklet that obvious to interpret, so what are people's thoughts on this interpretation...

The count suggests a low level of infection that doesn't require an immediate treatment, but that something will be required before the winter in order to try and reduce the levels.

In with the beginners kit was an apiguard treatment, so I guess i can use this at some point in the future.

OK.
The 'varroa calculator" was an early effort, is a bit inconsisstent and AFAIK hasn't been updated recently.

The easiest thing to understand in Managing Varroa is the graph 'Fig 54' on the page with the number 34 in the bottom corner.
Its where the "10 a day" threshold comes from.

HOWEVER, you don't have a full colony yet, there's less bees than the charts expect - so the proportion of varroa to bees is actually worse than it might appear.

The other thing to remember is that the drop you measure puts a bottom end on the true drop --- some varroa go missing, due to earwigs, wind and suchlike. Always bear in mind that things are at least as bad (maybe worse, occasionally much worse, but never better) than you measure.

All that said, there's no cause to panic.
Don't treat with Apiguard until after you have taken any 'harvest' even if it is only going to be a single-frame taster.
But get the Apiguard on the hive by the end of August.
To use Apiguard, you need to provide some space above the frames for the pack to sit. An 'Apiguard eke' is a rim about 2 to 3 inches high, cheaply fashioned from stripwood. (Though 'kits' are available with 4 pre-cut bits of cedar and nails included.) If you don't have one yet, you'll need such a thing in about a month, so plenty time to get it sorted.

 

[Arfermo]

But get the Apiguard on the hive by the end of August.

Yeah to that.

To use Apiguard, you need to provide some space above the frames for the pack to sit. An 'Apiguard eke' is a rim about 2 to 3 inches high, cheaply fashioned from stripwood. (Though 'kits' are available with 4 pre-cut bits of cedar and nails included.) If you don't have one yet, you'll need such a thing in about a month, so plenty time to get it sorted.

Make your own eke. One inch high is quite enough providing there is some bee space under the CB. I made some from some old half inch trellis.

 

[megadyptes]

To use Apiguard, you need to provide some space above the frames for the pack to sit. An 'Apiguard eke' is a rim about 2 to 3 inches high, cheaply fashioned from stripwood.

Make your own eke. One inch high is quite enough providing there is some bee space under the CB. I made some from some old half inch trellis.

Ok. Making an eke isn't going to be a problem, plenty of off cuts left over from making the hive stand.

At the moment there's the broodbox, queen excluder, super, then crownboard. Slipping the eke/apiguard under the crownboard would be easy. But assuming I'll not be removing any frames from the super once I decide to do this, is there any reason to leave the excluder in place during the treatment (or overwinter thereafter)?

 

[pargyle]

Ok. Making an eke isn't going to be a problem, plenty of off cuts left over from making the hive stand.

At the moment there's the broodbox, queen excluder, super, then crownboard. Slipping the eke/apiguard under the crownboard would be easy. But assuming I'll not be removing any frames from the super once I decide to do this, is there any reason to leave the excluder in place during the treatment (or overwinter thereafter)?

If you are going to overwinter with a super on the hive then a queen excluder is a definite NO NO ... if the winter cluster moves up into the super over winter (where is it warmest and their stores are found) and the queen can't get through the excluder ... dead queen !

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Taking (any) honey off after the bramble has finished is a good time to do it. Be advised that Apiguard will taint any honey in the hive. Aware of that, if you are going to treat anyway, there's no reason to wait for mite numbers to build up before treating.

 

[itma]

...
At the moment there's the broodbox, queen excluder, super, then crownboard. Slipping the eke/apiguard under the crownboard would be easy. But assuming I'll not be removing any frames from the super once I decide to do this, is there any reason to leave the excluder in place during the treatment (or overwinter thereafter)?

QX is used to keep Q out of your crop, so she can't lay brood there.

If its your crop, take it before treatment.
As stated, if its winter stores for the bees, at some point that QX is going to have to come out ...