MAQs treatment. 7 day report

[Beauhawk]

I posted a couple of threads regarding the ongoing MAQs treatment that finished yesterday on my hives that are housed in an out building.

In the first hive the Queen (last years) was nowhere to be seen and I found two fully formed supercedure cells!!! This was the strongest colony treated and had the greatest bee loss on day 2 which prompted my first report. The bees had chewed at the paper wick over the 7 days.
I treated this hive with entrance fully open and had the inspection board in.

The second hive was all acting normally and was still Q+.
This hive does not have an integral inspection board so OMF was open and entrance was half open when treated.

My un-scientific conclusion
Although a low drop was seen on both hives, it was worth treating.
Ventilation seemed to be v important. With the board in and entrance fully open, I thought I was emulating the US hives without OMF but perhaps did not take into account the reduced draft around the hive from being 'in doors'.
Also the bees had chewed the paper wick! Had they added to the situation by overdosing themselves? Couple this with less ventilation, perhaps added to the downfall of HM.
A real shame as this colony was a package at the beginning of the season on new frames and had still produced 51lbs of honey!!

New queen on order as I guess with so few drones around the new virgins will not mate very well!

So, would I use MAQs again - the Jury's out!

 

[wilderness]

Worried

I've not been on the forum for many months but I used MAQS on my hives this afternoon. I checked on them about an hour later and the bees were making the same noise as when I had to destroy a hive due to AFB by pouring petrol on them. Not something I ever wanted to hear again.

I haven't been through all the MAQS posts but did your bees sound very distressed when it was applied?

 

[itma]

...
I haven't been through all the MAQS posts but did your bees sound very distressed when it was applied?

No.
But I treated with the supers on, giving a larger volume, and the open mesh floor open, so I could keep the entrance reduced.

 

[Swarm]

Best advice IMOVHO, apply the treatment, leave and return when treatment is over to remove it.

I removed MAQS yesterday. Hive activity was normal with every colony so I will leave inspecting frames as I don't think it's what they need atm. I did a heft on each hive and I think feeding may be required this year but I'll assess that when I inspect them next week.

Edit:
I should add that my hives configurations varied a lot from single National brood, brood plus super, brood plus two supers, double brood plus super. I didn't change anything about them, OMF with no varroa boards in place, entrances as they always are.

 

[Beauhawk]

I haven't been through all the MAQS posts but did your bees sound very distressed when it was applied?

No, Wilderness, there was no unusual buzzing/sounds of distress coming from the hive but as per my post after the first 24 hours there were far more casualties than I had expected strewn around the gravel floor.

 

[sandysman]

Put it on yesterday and yes, the buzz went up on all three hives that I treated. As I have quite a wasp problem the entrance reducer is in but pulled away from one side giving a slightly larger entrance but still helping to reduce a little to defend against jaspers. I am on OMF'S but have put the floor half way in on each to try and balance out the air flow. I will have a peep later today to see if there have been casualties.
Fingers crossed.
Andy

 

[Erichalfbee]

A lot of us have been keeping the floor open and the reducers in

 

[Jimmys Mum]

Mine went on last Thursday. I've had the entrances fully open but the floor in and the back taped up to act as a solid floor. 24hrs after the initial bearding they all went in and are now clustering on the bottoms of the frames just above the floor. I've had little in the way of dead bees and I've not seen any brood being removed yet. I've had a big problem with condensation dripping off the crown board! Despite the advice to leave a super on for the bees to expand into, the supers on both my hives are now devoid of any bees whatsoever. I think Swarms advice is good.....put it on and walk away for a week. Too many things to worry about if, like me, you are inclined to check daily.
Although the Apilife Var has a longer treatment time I am finding it a lot less stressful to use on my other hives than the MAQS. It seems to hit the bees less hard but for longer whereas the MAQS are hard hitting but only for a short time. I guess my confidence may be restored once I see healthy bees with a prolific queen laying plenty of eggs again!
Think I would use MAQS again but not at this time of year. Too much of a risk if it all goes wrong and a new queen needs to get mated!

 

[wilderness]

I was right to be worried

Checked this morning and all 3 colonies have several hundred bees dead on the ground. I opened all the colonies and removed the MAQs strips. The OMFs on all 3 were covered in dead/dying bees.

Could someone who has successfully used MAQs talk me through their method of application in case I did something wrong.

I have the batch number so I'll contact the manufacturer.

 

[Mel]

I put in the MAQS yesterday, having deliberately waited till the weather cooled down - since then it's been raining , and I'm worried they won't be able to fly and get fresh air if they need it. A few minutes after putting the strips in I had to change the roof on one hive for one in better condition, and I found huge numbers of bees clumped on top of the crownboard. Clearly not enjoying it - but that of course doesn't mean it's not a good thing to use.

But it's obviously causing a lot of stress to some of us, self included!
Mel

 

[Erichalfbee]

Could someone who has successfully used MAQs talk me through their method of application in case I did something wrong.

No inspection within three days of application so that the bees are settled.
I have two 14 x 12s on brood and shallow so two strips went between the boxes.
The other two had two strips on top of brood box underneath the queen excluder.
ALL colonies had a super on top to increase the space in the hive (all being worked on but I would have put one on top anyway)
Wasps are a problem so I have my OMF open and the entrances reduced to one or two bee ways

I would be tempted to give a nuc half a strip

 

[VEG]

I did the same as swarm put it on and walked away. I think most people that have some complaint about it are the ones that have the hives in their gardens or close by.


Craig

 

[coffin dodger]

I applied MAQS to two of my hives on Saturday 7th, both 14x12 with super and open OMF, slightly overcast with an air temp of around 50f, the strips were put on top of the brood frames under the QX as per instructions, results, nothing that I could see ! the bees just kept on doing what they do and were happily bringing in pollen, no bearding, no dead bees outside, nothing unusual on the OMF when I look under the hive or through the entrance. I've been checking regularly since then and there's no change at all, the bees seem quite happy with it.

Regards
CD

 

[Swarm]

Checked this morning and all 3 colonies have several hundred bees dead on the ground. I opened all the colonies and removed the MAQs strips. The OMFs on all 3 were covered in dead/dying bees.

Could someone who has successfully used MAQs talk me through their method of application in case I did something wrong.

I have the batch number so I'll contact the manufacturer.

A few people reported mortalities but these people were back and for to the hives every day. I saw no corpses at all but it was a week since I'd put the strips on. I'm under no illusion there were dead bees and the bees didn't like it I'm sure. They don't like apiguard either.
You can see the variation of hive set up at my apiary from my earlier reply. Every hive was settled and happy with no signs of distress seven days later.

As Erichalfbee mentioned, I have two smaller colonies that received one strip each (half dose) I don't think I'd put MAQS into a nuc, probably not enough ventilation.

 

[Beauhawk]

Wilderness - perhaps you did not see my 24hr report - http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=26178

In the hive I had the issue with I lost the Queen!

 

[sandysman]

Do you think there might be an issue using thymolated syrup to feed at the same time as MAQS treatment?

 

[wilderness]

Wilderness - perhaps you did not see my 24hr report - http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=26178

In the hive I had the issue with I lost the Queen!

Beauhawk, thanks I hadn't seen that one. It seems as though MAQs does cause mortality in the bees and as someone in that thread says, "it goes off with a bang"

I've used Hivemakers recipe for the last few years. Guess what I'll be using next year!

I'll see if I can recover some of the dead bees, if the wasps leave any, and see if I can identify whether they are old bees.

 

[Swarm]

Guess what I'll be using next year!

What about this year since you removed the treatment before it was finished?