gonna treat with oxalic tomorrow,will they be ok?

[oliver90owner]

5 week window

As usual, rubbish.

Depends on autumn, weather, location, bee strain and likely others, such as hive format/material. Anyone who believes in 'set dates' where bees are concerned is sadly mistaken. Averages and norms - yes; specific windows and dates - no.

RAB

 

[alexander]

5 week window

As usual, rubbish.

Depends on autumn, weather, location, bee strain and likely others, such as hive format/material. Anyone who believes in 'set dates' where bees are concerned is sadly mistaken. Averages and norms - yes; specific windows and dates - no.

RAB

Thanks, going to do mine today, been waiting for it to arrive, and it turned up this morning. Finally.
First winter and there is so much to learn, with such different opinions on here. After a couple of years sure I will learn my bees/area.

 

[oliver90owner]

I have opened a hive on the 19 February (I think, but certainly into the second half of the month) and there has been no brood, not even eggs. That particular hive was opened and given a quick check, then two days later thoroughly checked for the queen.

About a month later (the next quick check for brood) showed she had been laying for at least two weeks but likely fairly soon after the original search for her. The previous year there was certainly still capped brood in the hive into December, and likely well into december at that.

That particular colony went on to make swarm preparations in the last week of April after being thwarted at superceding the week before. The supercedure was, in my view, preparation for later swarming as the old queen had swarmed previously. That colony was then spit into five colonies, of which three of the four splits successfully raised queens, all laying by about the end of the third week in May. A somewhat different season than last year!

You might ask why I removed the supercedure cell. I had arranged to move the colony to another site temporarily. Swarm preparations were made on it's return, two days later.

RAB

 

[Finman]

someone mentioned the `5 week window`until the 21st jan. What happens after this date, is it not effective?

bees start to make first some brood despite of weather. Trickling has quite good influence still. The brood amount is some tens. 1000 mites cannot hidden under first cappings. At least you see, how much the drop is.

You may do trickling even in february. Take all brood away and then. It is not a big loss.

You may concentrate brood frames in one hive and the to that brood camp you give thymol cure.

Actually Spring cures are thymol and formic acid.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

Rab

I use Thymol, OA and 'strips' as anti varroa measures. These can be done at variety of different times depending on what is needed.

I use shook swarm, A/S, drone manipulations and a variety of other beekeeping manipulations routinely but they may well be driven by other reasons (e.g. Queen rearing, format change, increase), the fact these techniques may also help the varroa situation is a nice benefit and is factored into my varroa strategy but I do not see them as purely anti varroa measures and I don't use them as such. For the last few years I only use Thymol and OA. 'Strips' have not been used recently for obvious reasons but I could use them if deemed necessary.

Re the 5 week window, I clearly stated “I think there is about 5 week window. 15 Dec to 21 Jan ball park (changes for everyone location) for me.”. I see nothing wrong in that for me, other people this may well change (as I clearly stated) but this is the time when my brood is at a minimum level / broodless and OA is a good oportunity then. February they are raising brood again (warm area). This is why I try and do OA in the middle of this window (1st Jan). I also note I use the words ball park. If a newbee asked for advice on when to do OA in winter, I think 15 Dec to 21 Jan would be a good guide for them [in fact every local beekeeper I know has done OA in this window for some reason ]. The fact I used it in June last year is irrelevant to this advice. It was used because it was needed and the hive was broodless.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

my bees were treated with apiguard in the autumn,maybe i should just leave them alone then?
Darren

Your choice Darren, but if you think Oxalic a good thing, then dont let the fact you have treated with Apiguard previously put you off. As there is no 100% cure all for varroa, we have to use what we can, and they are both perfectly valid ways of trying to manage it

 

[oliver90owner]

Nic,

I just loked back and, yes, you were very woolly as to the dates/window (dependant on location). We can see clearly that even though you qualified yor window at the early post, by the next page of the thread it appears to be used as a definive cut-off date. It may be likely, now, that the poster will come back and insist he/she was not meaning that, but one can clearly see how these silly dated windows soon become fixed in some minds.

 

[luckydunny]

Have you Wassailed your bees and apple trees?[/QUOTE]

Just going now with family, saucepans and wooden spoons at ready, (Mulled wine to boot I hope!!!)

 

[biglongdarren]

treatment done,varroa boards in the few hives i have with open mesh floors to see the drop,had a friend come with me and lift the crown boards with i applied the oxalic,was very handy really.
I'll let yous know how the drop is going.
Thanks Darren