Low varroa drop: to vape or not to vape

[manek]

This morning, after a week under the OMF, the yellow varroa board had just three dead mites on it. Should I bother vaping with OA, or is the added stress on the bees not worth the gain?

 

[REDWOOD]

No need to bother


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[Millet]

I would do it to mine regardless of one mite or 100, it does not stress the bees at all, they may rev up like a chainsaw but they quickly quieten down.
Give it a go you might be surprised how many Varroa are actually in there.

 

[Erichalfbee]

No don't bother

 

[Millet]

No don't bother

Why Erica What harm can it do, if i had a zero drop however i would not bother either.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I would do it to mine regardless of one mite or 100, it does not stress the bees at all, they may rev up like a chainsaw but they quickly quieten down.
Give it a go you might be surprised how many Varroa are actually in there.

Well that's certainly a point of view and one that is very common. I would not criticise anybody doing just that. However, whether or not the treatment damages the bees is beside the point - one of the principles of Integrated Pest Management is that you don't use a treatment if the bees, or arable crop or livestock don't need it.

With a natural mite drop of 3 in 7 days, I would think a treatment is not necessary - BUT the natural mite drop is not the bee-all and end-all of mite monitoring - the better methods are not suitable for the winter because they involve taking the hive apart to get a sample of 300 bees. What I'm saying is your bees, your decision but it's good to have some different views to help you with that.

Let us know what you decide.

CVB

 

[Erichalfbee]

Why Erica What harm can it do, if i had a zero drop however i would not bother either.

Because I don't consider the drop significant. You will never get varroa numbers to zero. You could equally say you might as well do a round of vaping every month.

 

[Millet]

Well that's certainly a point of view and one that is very common. I would not criticise anybody doing just that. However, whether or not the treatment damages the bees is beside the point - one of the principles of Integrated Pest Management is that you don't use a treatment if the bees, or arable crop or livestock don't need it.

With a natural mite drop of 3 in 7 days, I would think a treatment is not necessary - BUT the natural mite drop is not the bee-all and end-all of mite monitoring - the better methods are not suitable for the winter because they involve taking the hive apart to get a sample of 300 bees. What I'm saying is your bees, your decision but it's good to have some different views to help you with that.

Let us know what you decide.


CVB

I know exactly what i decide with these bees i have at the moment which seem to attract varroa, this time of the year they get Zapped if i see any.

I have yet to see a reduction in bee numbers or any dead bee's by doing this.

Two years ago i tried Apilife Var and found dead mushed up brood on the inspection tray through out the treatment which i was not happy with and i could clearly see the bees where not happy also.

That treatment was slung in the cupboard and back to the gassing Oxalic A , no dead larvae or bees (just dead Varroa) Let me know what you decide.

 

[Millet]

Because I don't consider the drop significant. You will never get varroa numbers to zero. You could equally say you might as well do a round of vaping every month.

Its a form of OCD which i need therapy for i'm sure, if i get bothered with any pest or vermin i can not settle till i have over come the problem.

 

[rdmw]

My thoughts are that there must always be some varroa and this is the only time of year that it is worth sublimating an established colony. As it does not appear to disrupt the bees and is a naturally occurring substance and there is a 99% mite drop I plan to do a treatment
Remember that the mite fall in winter is naturally lower than in summer
http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/public/BeeDiseases/varroaCalculator.cfm



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[Erichalfbee]

this is the only time of year that it is worth sublimating an established colony......................... and there is a 99% mite drop

ONLY if there is no brood.


Its worth sublimating at any time of year if you do it three or four times

 

[Eyeman]

The calculator says there may be up to:

170 mites in the colony

I was hoping to get my mite levels down to single figures at this time of the year!
If the 99% kill with OA and no brood is correct then one vape and your down to 1.7 mites!

 

[fatshark]

I don't think the calculator has a lot of relevance for midwinter ... remember, it asks how much drone brood you have in the colony. It might ignore this in months September to March, but who knows?

Far more significant is likely to be whether your colony has sealed brood or not. If the colony is broodless I'd expect a higher drop of phoretic mites than if there's brood present. Many of my colonies recently went through a broodless period (mid-Nov to early Dec) and - in those that were being monitored - the mite drop increased. Presumably the calculator can only guesstimate whether you have sealed brood based upon month and season length ...

 

[rdmw]

I was at a good talk by Graeme Sharpe the bee advisor from SRUC recently where he discussed varroa control. He thought the calculator was a useful tool throughout the year and very much suggested a multifactorial integrated pest management system. He was suggesting Apitraz used in late summer after the honey crop, then sublimation mid winter and icing sugar dusting through the season.


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[Erichalfbee]

I think the only place for icing sugar ( apart from a diagnostic sugar roll) is on top of a cake
What did he say the icing sugar was for?

 

[REDWOOD]

I think the only place for icing sugar ( apart from a diagnostic sugar roll) is on top of a cake

It looks very pretty on a chocolate log, it looks like real snow, sprig of holly and a plastic robin job done

 

[manek]

Well, I guess that if the bees don't suffer too much - this is my one and only, as well my first colony after all - I'll vape anyway, despite a low drop rate.

Fewer mites is never a bad thing. I can't bring myself to open up the hive and scrape off the brood cappings though unless it gets a lot warmer all of a sudden, so I may do two lots of vaping, one a week after the other.

 

[rdmw]

The icing sugar is interesting. The theory goes that the sugar crystals get stuck in the bees hairs and the other bees groom the crystals out and in the process dislodge varroa who tumble to their doom through the mesh floor. There have been studies showing increasing varroa drop rates after applications. I have been trying to use a sugar sifter to disperse icing sugar down the seams of bees as I close the hive after an inspection.
Can't do any harm!


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[Erichalfbee]

Icing sugar can be used in an accelerated mite drop where according to Randy Oliver the results are quite accurate. I think he has shown that weekly sugar dusting through the whole season kept the mites in the hives he was documenting at the same levels as when he started the regime. So it's a lot of effort to get sugar in your supers while keeping the mite numbers level.

 

[Millet]

My thoughts are that there must always be some varroa and this is the only time of year that it is worth sublimating an established colony. As it does not appear to disrupt the bees and is a naturally occurring substance and there is a 99% mite drop I plan to do a treatment
Remember that the mite fall in winter is naturally lower than in summer
http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/public/BeeDiseases/varroaCalculator.cfm



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Not really if you search the forum or anywhere else you will be more informed, a vaporizer can be used anytime of the year when ever needed, the bees or colony are not disrupted apart from a quick show of wings to try and waft the vapour back out.