Summer varroa treatment in Italy

[Zante]

What they do in Italy, as a summer treatment for varroa, they stop the queen from laying by caging her for 21 days, so there is no capped brood in the nest to hide the mites and then they treat the bees.

This is done when the season is closing, so the interruption in laying is also beneficial for wintering colony. Once released the queen will start laying the winter bees, and the break in laying means there are fewer foragers when there is little or no forage, rather than hanging around with not much to do eating up stores.

I'm not sure it could be done in the same way in the UK, but I'm curious to hear what you think of it.

 

[Zante]

Maybe for those experiencing a June gap one could plan a laying gap?

 

[mazzamazda]

What I do is wait until around end August and there is a brood gap and usually treat then, I hadnt thought of caging the queen if there was any brood, leaves more treatment options open. Good idea, thanks.

 

[Al-In-Italy]

For what it's worth, when we were keeping bees in Italy we dusted with powdered sugar during our (usually) weekly inspections and used oxalic acid drip in winter.

I'm well aware that opinions and bees differ, but this worked for us and our bees thrived.

 

[Finman]

For what it's worth, when we were keeping bees in Italy we dusted with powdered sugar during our (usually) weekly inspections and used oxalic acid drip in winter.

I'm well aware that opinions and bees differ, but this worked for us and our bees thrived.

Dusting sugar does not work. That is the fact, not mere opinion.

 

[Finman]

.
I am going to do some special this late summer, because varroa level is high, when I have broken drone pupae. Condensed mites kill easily wintering bee brood.



tricks...

a) Profound the nuc with bees, not with brood frame. Trickle the hive with oxalic syrup.

How to make a nuc with bees

When main yield is over, put an extracted box over the hive. Put the exluder that the queen cannot be with nuc.

When bees fill the honeyish frames, move the box to the another yard. Treat it with oxalic syrup and give a new queen.


b) Make an AS and trickle it. Move the brood hive to the different yard, that mites do not drift to the cleaned hive.

All hives should be cleaned at same time in one yard. It will happen quite soon when rape yield is finish and bees start to make wintering bees.


xxx It is my experince that biggest hives will die if I do not polish away that huge amount of mites.

I bet that AS is easier than 3 weeks treatment.


c) treat the brood hives

Let the brood emerge with emergency queen cells. YOu can take weekly part of bees from brood hive with chook swarm. Move away and treat the mites.

Support wintering hives with those new clean bees.




.

 

[Eyeman]

What they do in Italy, as a summer treatment for varroa, they stop the queen from laying by caging her for 21 days

You don't need to stop her laying for 21 days. 14 days is sufficient. Your can also incorporate this practice into your weekly inspections. I used this method earlier in the year to raise Emergency QC's- but must admit the QC's produced were difficult to handle.

1. Remove queen and put her in to a mini nuc or 3 frame nuc.
2. 1 week later cull all Emergency queen cells from hive.
3. 1 week later return Q to the now Q- hive: just let her run it she will readily be accepted,
4. 1 week later all the original worker brood will have emerged and any remaining drone brood can be easily 'forked out'. Any new brood the queen has produced will be uncapped.
5. All mites are now phoretic and I would use oxalic acid vaporisation.

 

[Goran]

At our place, stopping her to lay will mean less bees which should nurse winter bees and at the end less winter bees. Our carnies also by themselves decrease brooding as season is going to an end. Since at my place there is no now significant forage I do stimulative feed to queen don't even more due to lack of forage decrease or stop laying. Stopping queen to lay at my place I believe will be suicide..

 

[Fusion_power]

I already did my "mite treatments" for the year.... By raising and using queens from mite tolerant stock.

 

[Finman]

I already did my "mite treatments" for the year.... By raising and using queens from mite tolerant stock.

According researches mite tolerant bees produce half of normal honey yield. Such bees do only economical losses.

No professional honey producer use mite tolerant bees..

And human aspect is that domestic animals do not have pests.
Shame on you when you let bees to suffer on mites.


.

 

[Fusion_power]

Finman, I've been at this 46 years as a beekeeper and 11 years treatment free. I know the positives and negatives of keeping bees treatment free. My bees are thriving, not suffering. On the other hand, as you posted above, yours are definitely suffering.

 

[Finman]

Finman, I've been at this 46 years as a beekeeper and 11 years treatment free. I know the positives and negatives of keeping bees treatment free. My bees are thriving, not suffering. On the other hand, as you posted above, yours are definitely suffering.

But my bees do honey. I do not mind are they dead or alive, but they do honey..

Every anmal which have blood suckers on it, on in it, suffers.

 

[Finman]

as you posted above, yours are definitely suffering.

Yesh. You know my things better than I.
When you are so smart and you know, what I do, read from me how to get 300 lbs honey from one hive.. In 1.5 month.

You are keen in wrong things in beekeeping, like mites and saw dust heaps.
..
..

 

[rook66]

What they do in Italy, as a summer treatment for varroa, they stop the queen from laying by caging her for 21 days, so there is no capped brood in the nest to hide the mites and then they treat the bees.

This is done when the season is closing, so the interruption in laying is also beneficial for wintering colony. Once released the queen will start laying the winter bees, and the break in laying means there are fewer foragers when there is little or no forage, rather than hanging around with not much to do eating up stores.

I'm not sure it could be done in the same way in the UK, but I'm curious to hear what you think of it.

http://www.apimobru.com/?lang=en
https://www.google.ie/url?q=http://...yKRzgg&usg=AFQjCNEBsKRnkl4aKBq-r98vPgJvYvguCg

 

[Motobiman]

Dusting sugar does not work. That is the fact, not mere opinion.

Do you mean it does not work as a treatment as it clearly works as a varroa detector.

 

[Motobiman]

You don't need to stop her laying for 21 days. 14 days is sufficient. Your can also incorporate this practice into your weekly inspections.

1. Remove queen and put her in to a mini nuc or 3 frame nuc.
2. 1 week later cull all Emergency queen cells from hive.
3. 1 week later return Q to the now Q- hive: just let her run it she will readily be accepted,
4. 1 week later all the original worker brood will have emerged and any remaining drone brood can be easily 'forked out'. Any new brood the queen has produced will be uncapped.
5. All mites are now phoretic and I would use oxalic acid vaporisation.

Do you move the Nuc away from the now Q- main hive?

 

[Motobiman]

But my bees do honey. I do not mind are they dead or alive, but they do honey..

Just factory farming then, OK.

 

[Eyeman]

Do you move the Nuc away from the now Q- main hive?

Yes I now move all my newly made-up nucs to a new apiary. That way you can near guarantee that the nuc population will remain in place which makes it easier to judge how many bees the nuc needs.
It's basically the same as 'taking a nuc' as part of swarm control when you see queen cells. But in this situation I would introduce a new queen rather than the old queen.

 

[Motobiman]

Yes I now move all my newly made-up nucs to a new apiary. That way you can near guarantee that the nuc population will remain in place which makes it easier to judge how many bees the nuc needs.
It's basically the same as 'taking a nuc' as part of swarm control when you see queen cells. But in this situation I would introduce a new queen rather than the old queen.

And you do that at any time of year when they are foraging?

 

[mazzamazda]

Its certainly an interesting way to get away without losing as many bees, you still will lose some as the queen will be laying for the amount of bees in the nuc, very labour intensive and if you miss that queen cell, game over.