Food Unwrapped

[Iainwilk01]

Did anyone see Food Unwrapped tonight? They said sprinkling the bees with icing sugar stops the mites from gripping on and fall off the bees. Is this true or a load of BS?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Did anyone see Food Unwrapped tonight? They said sprinkling the bees with icing sugar stops the mites from gripping on and fall off the bees. Is this true or a load of BS?

No i didn't see it but sprinkling icing sugar on bees is ineffectual and a waste of good icing sugar which would be far better used to make honey buttercream icing to create honey butterfly buns.

 

[Hivemaker.]

True.

 

[B+.]

True.

Not exactly sprinkling them with icing sugar, but....you get the idea

http://coloss.org/beebook/II/varroa/3/1/2?searchterm=icing

 

[dpearce4]

It was utter rubbish what was spouted on that show tonight. Varroa is the single cause of thousands of hives dying off, really????? don't think so.

it was on just after the ad break if anyone wants to watch a good bed time story.

It was funny when she said that a large number of beekeepers don't think it works at the end.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Varroa is the single cause of thousands of hives dying off, really?

Yes, they have caused the loss of thousands of hives of bees.

 

[enrico]

Most interesting thing was that it contains an anti caking additive. Not pure sugar at all.
E

 

[masterBK]

Sprinkling Icing sugar does have a role. It is reasonably good at removing phoretic mites from a recently collected swarm and also from colonies when no brood is present and, of course, for sampling to determine mite numbers.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Not exactly sprinkling them with icing sugar, but....you get the idea

http://coloss.org/beebook/II/varroa/3/1/2?searchterm=icing

Thank you for the link B+ ...I had never heard of that method before, much appreciated.

 

[B+.]

Thank you for the link B+ ...I had never heard of that method before, much appreciated.

Any time

A similar method is used to get enough mites for innoculating VSH test colonies

 

[Madge]

As I understand it, icing sugar works a bit like walking on marbles. The mites lose their footing.

As MasterBK mentioned, its value is in using it as a means of testing mite numbers, rather than as a means of controlling varroa. Apart from the link to Coloss, see also the links to a video and instructions on the Native Irish Honeybee Society website.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I find it good for making queen candy...................and Christmas cakes

 

[dpearce4]

Make your own by putting caster suger in a coffee/spice grinder then its cheaper and no additives.

 

[user 6228]

is this one of those programmes where each of the facts are separated by 5 minutes of waffle pointless scene changes and recapping?

I find them absolutely infuriating

 

[B+.]

is this one of those programmes where each of the facts are separated by 5 minutes of waffle pointless scene changes and recapping?

I find them absolutely infuriating

They're made like that for the American market. So they can fit all the commercials in.

 

[MartinL]

Did anyone see Food Unwrapped tonight? They said sprinkling the bees with icing sugar stops the mites from gripping on and fall off the bees. Is this true or a load of BS?

Always thought it encouraged the bees to groom themselves, thus removing the mites, not making then "slip off"!

 

[Iainwilk01]

Yeah, I've since read a couple of interesting studies I found online. A Couple mention mites unable to grip and some say the bees grooming removes them. Seems the best treatment is weekly as it has no effect on mites inside the cells so they must be captures when they emerge.

 

[Tremyfro]

I suppose one of the good things about sprinkling the bees with sugar powder is that no nasty chemicals are introduced into the hive and the bees are not distressed by it. I haven't tried doing it but I have used powdered sugar to do a mite count.....but how can you be sure all the mites fall off the bees? The instructions say to shake the bees...so do they fall off because they are groomed off or shaken off? I don't see how the bees can groom them off if they are being shaken about!

 

[alldigging]

I suppose one of the good things about sprinkling the bees with sugar powder is that no nasty chemicals are introduced into the hive and the bees are not distressed by it.

Does it count as a veterinary medicine as it's being used as a treatment? Is it therefore an unlicensed veterinary medicine?
And if it's 'just sugar' then applying through the season contaminates the honey with sugar - there is no guarantee that the it doesn't.
Wiki then says: An anti-caking agent is generally added during grinding, typically corn starch, or tricalcium phosphate, at 3% to 5% concentration, so you're adding that to your hive along with the icing sugar.

As regards how much I have read about someone using 1lb per hive per visit.

http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/V/dusting.pdf
this says 125g per brood box.

 

[Tremyfro]

Does it count as a veterinary medicine as it's being used as a treatment? Is it therefore an unlicensed veterinary medicine?
And if it's 'just sugar' then applying through the season contaminates the honey with sugar - there is no guarantee that the it doesn't.
Wiki then says: An anti-caking agent is generally added during grinding, typically corn starch, or tricalcium phosphate, at 3% to 5% concentration, so you're adding that to your hive along with the icing sugar.

As regards how much I have read about someone using 1lb per hive per visit.

http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/V/dusting.pdf
this says 125g per brood box.

Would it be called a treatment though...as sugar is found in the hive...dilute in nectar and honey.
I said 'sugar powder' meaning without cornstarch which is in icing sugar. As I don't sell any honey, if any sugar gets included, it's only us eating it. I wasn't advocating using this method of varroa removal but more interested in the mechanics of how it removes the varroa.
1lb per hive...how extraordinary! That is a huge amount. I would doubt you would use more than a tablespoon per frame.