First Winter and I have a couple of Questions

[BeeMoustashe]

not wintering with a super, they never managed to build up strong enough to get a super last year, bless em. No top ventilation and well insulated but are a small (3-4 frame) colony. Will keep an eye out then if we get a cold snap- which I'm hearing is becoming likely.
Benefit of a glass quilt, I can see where they're all moving to!

 

[Arfermo]

Forget about oxalic acid this year. This is your first real year and you want to just do things gently. Next year will be hard enough with uneven comb, loads more bees and swarming so relax now and let the bees do what they do naturally .... survive. E

Absolutely appalling advice not to oxalic. There is no reason whatsoever to think that varroa are sufficienly low for it to be left to chance as it is not until you actually do it that you really do find how many are in there. How naive can people be? There is no risk whatsoever in giving it so do it. Another 2 weeks and it will be too late and then you will probably regret that poor advice

 

[Moggs]

Hi Afermo. That's a bit of a hard line to take, if you don't mind me saying. I would venture that there are plenty of beekeepers who feel very comfortable that their varroa load is low, after successful IPM in 2011. While I agree that it is probably better to treat if the situation is uncertain, this should not be held as a hard and fast rule. I believe that there is great merit in encouraging a proactive approach rather than beekeeping by rote.

 

[Moggett]

It can be a mistake to be lulled into a false sense of security because of low varroa numbers on the drop board - which really only just helps to make an educated guess at the mite load. The mesh floor can also get progressively clogged with candy and other debris over the winter stopping mites falling through, which can also give a false impression of low mite numbers. OA is a cheap and easy to apply treatment. After seeing how many mites OA killed this year I will never miss a winter treatment again (unless someone comes up with a something better). The best mite load for a colony is zero - any other number is unnatural and progressively damaging to the bees.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Hi Afermo. That's a bit of a hard line to take, if you don't mind me saying. I would venture that there are plenty of beekeepers who feel very comfortable that their varroa load is low, after successful IPM in 2011. While I agree that it is probably better to treat if the situation is uncertain, this should not be held as a hard and fast rule. I believe that there is great merit in encouraging a proactive approach rather than beekeeping by rote.

Moggs - I think Afermo's hard line may have been against giving such advise to a new beekeeper without the confidence or knowledge to make up his own mind. Especially critical as the OP only has one colony therefore risk taking should be minimised.