Thymol treatment with caging the queen technique

[Finman]

Combination of thymol treatment (Apiguard®) and caging the queen technique to fight Varroa destructor

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-015-0408-4

Abstract

Guaranteeing high acaricide efficacy to control Varroa destructor is fundamental for colony survival. In this study, we verified the efficacy and impact of a commercial thymol-based veterinary product (Apiguard®) on colony honey bee populations when used alone or combined with the biotechnical method of caging honey bee queens to create an artificial brood interruption period in the colony. Apiguard® killed 76.1% of the mites while queen caging killed 40.6% of the mites. The combination of Apiguard® administration with queen caging killed 96.8% of the mites. Comparing bee numbers before and after treatment, Apiguard® treated colonies with caged queens had 48.7% fewer bees compared to before treatment, while Apiguard® alone reduced the number of adult bees by 13.6%. None of the treatments in the different groups resulted in elevated queen mortality.

Queen cage

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[Finman]

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I am going to make 2-3 frame prisons to the queens. They will lay in main flow like in a nuc.

I have nursed 30 years hives so that I took away the queen in main flow period, and the hive was queenless 2 weeks. It went well mostly, but some hives lost their motive to forage. Another thing is that main flow is best time to make pollen stores, but as we know, queenless hive is not eager to do that. When I stopped that style, I got better yields.

Our summer is short, and there are not much time to make miracles. To treat giant hives is not easy either.

 

[mazzamazda]

I'm definitely doing this next season, I'm thinking a mesh to allow the queen to lay in one frame only and remove that. Is it not good to cage a laying queen for 16 days needed to be brood free. I'll probably trickle OA rather than Apiguard or oav though.

 

[Gas]

Really interesting find there Finman, it made interesting reading. Thank you.

I think I’ll try this next year on an hive or 2 but removing the queen for 20 days and the limiting in her laying during that time does make me wonder how much of a disruption it will cause overall before she gets back to her rhythm in laying routine again, especially in our shorter season here in wet and windy Wales, albeit it is not as short as yours.

 

[SDM]

I'm surprised you are not going to use the OA/glycerine shop towel method finman. Dosing could be easily raised for large hives, its a lower maintenance method ( only 1 visit to apply towels) , high kill rate and negligible potential for honey contamination, with zero disturbance to queen function.

 

[rook66]

I'm definitely doing this next season, I'm thinking a mesh to allow the queen to lay in one frame only and remove that. Is it not good to cage a laying queen for 16 days needed to be brood free. I'll probably trickle OA rather than Apiguard or oav though.

The best method,why not use excluder each side, a friend lost queens following the Italian method of caging.
He thought the bees killed the queens trying to release them.
http://www.apimobru.com/var-control-cage-mozzato/?lang=en

 

[Finman]

I'm surprised you are not going to use the OA/glycerine shop towel method finman..

I have good experiences how to clean the hive in 3 days before bees start to rear Winter brood.

When I read your system out there, week after week fumigation, and no end in mite drop.

For example if I do an artificial swarm, I move all brood frames to another yard
Then I have a colony without brood at the end of July. I kill free mites then. The colony starts to rear winter brood in cleaned hive. What it needs is all pollen stores from old hive and sugar feeding. For example crystallized frames.

When I followed that brood box, which I separated from a mite hive, all brood emerged and I got another box full of new bees. But after 2 weeks the colony had only one handfull of bees and the queen.

That case tells, what means collapsed hive. And biggest colonies are in biggest danger.

I saved the hive and I stopped mites to work in brood. I lost earlier brood, but I got a good colony for winter.

In continuous oxalic fumagination mites can violate all the time more or less brood, but in artificial system all mites are moved out. But I have seen too, that mites drift quickly to the cleaned hive if I am not carefull. Drones drift from hivr to hive, and they do not mind, where they go.

 

[Hivemaker.]

For example if I do an artificial swarm, I move all brood frames to another yard


When I followed that brood box, which I separated from a mite hive, all brood emerged and I got another box full of new bees. But after 2 weeks the colony had only one handfull of bees and the queen.

I saved the hive and I stopped mites to work in brood.

You ended ruining one colony to save the other.
A shook swarm on one, then giving all their violated brood to another.

 

[Finman]

You ended ruining one colony to save the other.
A shook swarm on one, then giving all their violated brood to another.

Suppose I did so. Never thought about that.

( you surely have Welsh genes)

 

[mazzamazda]

The best method,why not use excluder each side, a friend lost queens following the Italian method of caging.
He thought the bees killed the queens trying to release them.
http://www.apimobru.com/var-control-cage-mozzato/?lang=en

Yes, I could see that happening, bees thinking something wrong with the queen, that was why I was going to cage a whole frame to keep the queen laying for at least some of the time. I previously used to starve the bees (well not feed) in August then treat, the last 2 years I've had brood but no drone cells.