Lack Of Varroa

[Millet]

I know it is not a bad thing but my hives are showing very little varroa on the inspection trays and they have had a second round of vaping..three of the colonies have Amitraz strips in them and showing the same results..i know a fellow forum member is seeing the same with his colonies so deoes any more of you seem to be witnessing the same low varroa loads up to now.

 

[Murox]

Well I have just finished 3xvaping and also seen next to zero mites.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Happens to me every three years or so. Peaks and troughs on a rough three year cycle, apart from the odd colony robbing out mite bombs
Start vaping on Wednesday so will have a look. One nuc already has Apivar on. Don’t expect much of a drop for three weeks from that one

 

[BMH]

Happens to me every three years or so. Peaks and troughs on a rough three year cycle, apart from the odd colony robbing out mite bombs
Start vaping on Wednesday so will have a look. One nuc already has Apivar on. Don’t expect much of a drop for three weeks from that one

I am too starting to vape on Wednesday! 3 goes over 5 days for all colonies. Nucs are already taken care of.

For people who normally vape as an autumn treatment, when do you think the latest you can start the series of treatments is?

Is 1st September too late?

 

[Erichalfbee]

For people who normally vape as an autumn treatment, when do you think the latest you can start the series of treatments is?

Is 1st September too late?

End of second week in September for me. That makes all the new brood from that date clean. I’m usually on top of it by then so starting around now.
I like to give myself time to get a 4th vape four days after the third if need be

 

[BMH]

Thanks. That's good to know. Any earlier and it would mean cutting short the heather season

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

[Murox]

End of second week in September for me. That makes all the new brood from that date clean. I’m usually on top of it by then so starting around now.
I like to give myself time to get a 4th vape four days after the third if need be

How can/why do you attach a date to vaporising ??

 

[Curly green finger's]

I know it is not a bad thing but my hives are showing very little varroa on the inspection trays and they have had a second round of vaping..three of the colonies have Amitraz strips in them and showing the same results..i know a fellow forum member is seeing the same with his colonies so deoes any more of you seem to be witnessing the same low varroa loads up to now.

I'm going into my second week of varroa treatment ( apivar strips).. and low varroa drop on 15 + colonys in comparison to the last couple of years.

I'm having more problems with ants and early wigs and I'm having to move hives .
No wasp problems like last year either.
Cheers mark.

 

[WoodenBeam]

All colonies now treated with MAQs, very few with a large mite drop which was a bit of a surprise as I had been starting to see a bit of DWV.

 

[Erichalfbee]

How can/why do you attach a date to vaporising ??

It’s an estimate
Winter bees being made September October
The autumns here are fairly consistent
It’s the springs that are capricious

 

[citrus]

what time of day do you vape ... you'd want to have most of the bees in the hive right ? ... or does it not matter too much ?

 

[Beefriendly]

Doesn't matter too much. The small deposition crystals get well distributed and get any returning fliers as they wander around the hive.

Just watch if you are vaping underneath a mesh floor as lot of OA will deposit on this.

 

[Murox]

It’s an estimate
Winter bees being made September October
The autumns here are fairly consistent
It’s the springs that are capricious

Ok, right. thank you.

 

[Erichalfbee]

what time of day do you vape ... you'd want to have most of the bees in the hive right ? ... or does it not matter too much ?

Doesn’t matter
I prefer vaping when they have finished flying simply to avoid the massive queue at the entrance. I suppose if you vape from the top and have a reduced entrance at wasp season you can probably get away with not closing it.
If you HAVE to treat when supers are on you can slide the brood over, put the supers on a floor where the brood was, vape and return as was

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

what time of day do you vape ... you'd want to have most of the bees in the hive right ? ... or does it not matter too much ?

Doesn't matter - I don't even bother closing the hives up any more, all the foraging bees will get into contact with the crystals when they return to the hive

 

[enrico]

I am quite new to this vaping lark but I understood it was best when there was the smallest amount of brood. I.e. December. Did them in December last year with no ill effects is this wrong?
E

 

[Walrus]

I am quite new to this vaping lark but I understood it was best when there was the smallest amount of brood. I.e. December. Did them in December last year with no ill effects is this wrong?
E

That's what I do and it seems to work very well. It's always a bit of a guess when they are broodless or nearly so, but I do it sometime in Nov/Dec, ideally a week after a really long cold spell.

 

[Swarm]

Once should suffice if they are broodless but OAV Autumn treatment requires multiple visits at five day intervals to account for any brooding at that time. No doubt you will remember reading accounts about seven or more rounds of OAV and still large mite drops?
I did five vapes on mine last year and still had a couple where mite numbers were higher than I'd like. The treatment itself is quick enough to carry out but the time involved back and fore to the apiary can be a PITA.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I am quite new to this vaping lark but I understood it was best when there was the smallest amount of brood. I.e. December. Did them in December last year with no ill effects is this wrong?
E

Not wrong at all - negates the need to open up and douse them in cold syrup midwinter, but you need to really knock back the varroa at the end of the summer to ensure healthy winter bees, you can do this using OA by doing three or four successive vapes at five day intervals to cover the varroa brood cycle

 

[enrico]

Phew! Thanks
E