richardh
New Bee
This autumn, I used three different miticides (MAQS, Apilife Var and Apiguard) on representative hives (2 per miticides) in each of 4 apiaries. All of the treatments yielded the desired reduction in mite populations with the effect of MAQS being relatively dramatic in the short term. However, the mite populations seem to have recovered much faster in the hives treated with MAQS than they have in those treated using the (relatively long duration) thymol-based alternatives. No excess mortality was observed in any of the test colinies.
The relative recovery rates surprised me, given formic acid is said to be effective in capped brood and also given its manifestly relatively dramatic impact. This has me wondering if perhaps the treatment duration and a consequent differential in the autumnal re-infection rate is at play in my results, particularly given the extended autumn we experienced this year.
Given I only tested a small number of colonies and also my experimental method probably wouldn't stand up to scrutiny in court, I'm curious about the experience of colleagues.
The relative recovery rates surprised me, given formic acid is said to be effective in capped brood and also given its manifestly relatively dramatic impact. This has me wondering if perhaps the treatment duration and a consequent differential in the autumnal re-infection rate is at play in my results, particularly given the extended autumn we experienced this year.
Given I only tested a small number of colonies and also my experimental method probably wouldn't stand up to scrutiny in court, I'm curious about the experience of colleagues.