MAQs after 24 hours

[Beauhawk]

Well I have read on this forum that MAQs goes of with a bang but was not really prepared for the devastation that I saw this morning.

My hives are in an old pig sty so very well sheltered and on gravel as opposed to grass.

There were loads more bodies than I was expecting (partly to do with them being easy to see and not having crawled down into grass and so out of sight) and the wasps were having a banquet!

So am I correct in thinking that the body count will now subside or should I prepare myself for more carnage tomorrow?

 

[kristin..]

so it kills bees 2 ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes.
I have just taken the strips off my four.
In front of one strong hive (14x12 + shallow poly) there was a heap of bees piled up in front of the hive.......maybe 250?
Nothing in front of the others but I have watched them fly away with casualties.

 

[enrico]

Mine were being kicked out or three days, but actually a few hundred bees makes a MASIVE pile and as a percentage is nothing really, don't panic, it is sad to see but ...... It s for a week and in my experience the queen starts laying again before the seven days are up.
Keep with it and just don't look!!!
E

 

[Heather]

Why damage bees with MAQ when Apiguard is effective and doesn't kill the bees?? Seems a no brainer to me. Even Pa...s advised not to use unless a real problem..

 

[TOBY-3652]

]Why damage bees with MAQ when Apiguard is effective and doesn't kill the bees?? Seems a no brainer to me. Even Pa...s advised not to use unless a real problem..

 

[enrico]

]Why damage bees with MAQ when Apiguard is effective and doesn't kill the bees?? Seems a no brainer to me. Even Pa...s advised not to use unless a real problem..

There are many good things, seven day treatment and not having to remove supers are just two real pluses for me. The amount of dead bees is actually very small in comparison with the size of the hive. You are not telling me they actually like apiguard!
E

 

[REDWOOD]

Stuff this it seems to be killing more bees than varroa, I'm glad I didn't buy the stuff

 

[REDWOOD]

As any research been done on this before it entered the UK ?

 

[VEG]

there may be more dead bees but, maybe it just kills them off quicker than you would see with the apiguard.

 

[eric]

does it kill the Queen ??????????????

 

[enrico]

It didn't kill any of my queens in four hives, it actually caused less disruption than apiguard or api life var that I have used previously. No jamming bees into one brood, 'killing more bees than varroa' is a touch over reactive!
E

 

[REDWOOD]

I have been on the BASF web site and can't seem to find what research and the results of MAQS, can anyone lead me to this

 

[VEG]

I have ordered some for my hives.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have been on the BASF web site and can't seem to find what research and the results of MAQS, can anyone lead me to this

Yes.
This is the one oft quoted.
http://scientificbeekeeping.com/an-early-summer-test-of-mite-away-quick-strips/
Randy Oliver's Scientific beekeeping with particular attention to the fourth from last para
Effect Upon Queens
Reports of excessive queen loss due to treatment appear to be largely unfounded, provided that the product is applied properly.*

 

[oliver90owner]

d, 'killing more bees than varroa' is a touch over reactive

That rather depends on the varroa load and other factors, presumably. Treating a colony with 200 mites and having a far greater bee mortality rate could be regarded as counter-productive. There will be a cross-over point. Especially at a fiver or more each treatment. Apiguard or a straight thymol treatment might be a far better option monetary-wise.

It would be interesting to see some sensible assessment of cost versus efficacy compared to other treatments, in due course. There are other benefits, such as time of treatment, presence of brood and stores etc, so not a straight forward relationship.

 

[REDWOOD]

Nobody using MAQS tells us the mite drop only the dead bees, I would like to know a bit more, what was the varroa drop before and after ?

 

[VEG]

I never bother counting the mites.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Me neither

 

[masterBK]

A double brood colony in my garden was dropping between 3 and 4 mites a week during August. I put the MAQS in at lunch time today and by 6 pm I counted 106 mites on the insert (far more than the total of 25 mites as predicted for the colony using the Beebase Varroa calculator). There will obviously be far more mites still in the cells and these won't appear on the insert for a while.