OA. How much mite drop do you get?

[Sutty]

I've just done my third vape, the 5 day mite drop after the second is 100s, maybe 1000+, way too many to count.
I had the same last year and after a long course of OA vapes there was still quite a few, though i had no winter losses at all apart from one that had been dwindling for a while.
Wondering how big a drop others have got?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've just done my third vape, the 5 day mite drop after the second is 100s, maybe 1000+, way too many to count.
I had the same last year and after a long course of OA vapes there was still quite a few, though i had no winter losses at all apart from one that had been dwindling for a while.
Wondering how big a drop others have got?

I have one the same. It’s had 8 vapes. The others have been pretty low.

 

[Sutty]

I have one the same. It’s had 8 vapes. The others have been pretty low.

My highest drops seem vaguely to be in the most prolific colonies
I did 10 vapes last year - glad I have a huge stock of OA!

 

[Antipodes]

My highest drops seem vaguely to be in the most prolific colonies
I did 10 vapes last year - glad I have a huge stock of OA!

Could that be because those prolific colonies have the highest number of bees?

 

[Erichalfbee]

My one “mitey” colony is split that raised a new queen. It is a large colony but no larger than the others. Similar genetics too.

 

[The Poot]

Of my five colonies, three just had their sixth vape. One had a zero 24 hour fall after five, the other had a fall of nine.
I noticed through the Summer that there was a larger number of drones than usual in my hives - almost all of the foundation free frames were turned over to drone brood, so I expected a higher varroa load. Most though, had brood breaks at some point, through swarm prevention.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I never bother or obsess with counting

 

[Swarm]

I have in the past done mite drop comparisons between bought in queens and our own local colonies, I still do random comparison counts. Without fail, colonies headed by bought in queens produce higher numbers, though those numbers are nowhere near as high as some figures quoted and vaping has never continued beyond four rounds. Some of the figures quoted are higher than I witness in an entire apiary count.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I never bother or obsess with counting

Don’t be obsessed but it is wise to keep an eye on it

 

[drex]

My counts are something like, ok, fair, keep an eye, oh whoops.

 

[The Poot]

After 24 hours two of the three are still dropping over 60 mites, so a seventh vape will be done. I’m absolutely obsessing about this it seems.

 

[GaryH]

My highest drops seem vaguely to be in the most prolific colonies
I did 10 vapes last year - glad I have a huge stock of OA!

Where do you get your OA

 

[Sutty]

Where do you get your OA

Lots of posts on here regarding suppliers and the recently increased restrictions on sale.
My last lot was from "construction chemicals".

 

[Do224]

I never bother or obsess with counting

How many hits of OA do you do?

 

[Curly green finger's]

How many hits of OA do you do?

Good question if it’s a round of 3/4 and you don’t count mite drop how would you know if your colony’s are suffering from high mite loads?
Ignorance is bliss!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How many hits of OA do you do?

three at five day intervals and then the last four days

 

[Erichalfbee]

three at five day intervals and then the last four days

It’s what Pete Little always advocated.
Apart from one colony that’s what I’ve done but then I have only the seven hives and I’ve been checking after each vape.
Hardly any point and a huge waste of time if you are a BF, I agree.
Some farmers take an apiary snapshot with alcohol washes but again I can’t see the point if you are using OAV.
The odd hive fails with varroa but that’s life.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I think I have some inspection boards in the shed somewhere

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think I have some inspection boards in the shed somewhere

Exactly

 

[Eyeman]

Are folks using 2+g of OAV as this study found x7 OAV at 5 day intervals using 1g of OA didn’t reduce mite levels when brood was present