treating a swarm for varroa

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winmag270

House Bee
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not saying anymore in case SWMBO reads this... ;o)
OK people, opinions / guidance requested please,

I've had a swarm "arrive" in a stack of old manky brood boxes i was planning to burn rather than repair.

yep, you guessed, two bee fingers up to my bait hive, straight into the gap between two manky brood boxes!

I have no idea where the swarm is from (they are not from my apiary).

not sure if they are a cast, although i suspect so as they are not a very large swarm from what i can see...

I will be doing a "shook swarm" onto fresh foundation later this week (primarily to get them out of the manky old boxes, into something usable....)

my question is, what preventive techniques for varroa would beeks suggest / recommend i be doing to this colony, if any at this time of year?

suggestions / advise eagerly awaited!

Win...
 
Assuming that you're going to feed them, then perhaps some thymolised syrup might be a starter until you can get a decent idea of how good or bad they are.

Ian
 
Treat with 3.2% oxalic acid in 1-1 sugar solution. In my experience very effective at dealing with mites on bees. Treat before the queen comes into lay and you can get your new colony into a low mite loading condition, effectively what you'd do at begin Jan. Oxalic does not deal with mites on brood but of couirse the beauty of a swarm and why this is such a good treatment in this circumstance is that there is no brood. Std practice for me. Dribble 5ml evenly into each seem of bees late in evening when you have all the flyers. Dont store the made up oxalic syrup goes toxic within weeks.
 
Assuming that you're going to feed them, then perhaps some thymolised syrup might be a starter until you can get a decent idea of how good or bad they are.

Ian

yes they will be fed some syrup to aid drawing the foundation they are to be shook onto, as they have pulled brace comb in the old BB's already, so a thymol treatment's a good idea, thanks!

dunno why i didn't think of that myself, must be getting old, or out in the sun too long....

could Oxalic HA and thymol be combined in the same syrup, or should tymol be mixed into feed syrup and oxalic dribbled onto bees?

soz, for noob questions, few years out of having to deal with a swarm i didn't know the origins of...

cheers,

Win
 
Oxalic is not fed, you syringe it into the hive, it cause the mites to loosen their hold and the act of grooming by the bees dislodge them and they fall out of the hive (assuming you have an open mesh floor). R
 
I agree with Rosti.
Good opportunity to zap those mites.
 
cheers Rosti,

not used Oxalic before, so it's a new ball game for me....

thanks guys for both of your inputs!

Win
 
If a prime swarm she will be laying by now? Allow some brood to be capped and most of the varroa will be gone when you transfer the bees to new wax.

I never treat unless I have some idea that they need it. Thymol or formic are better bets than oxalic acid. Need to watch dose but good if got right.

Regards, RAB
 
, then perhaps some thymolised syrup might be a starter until you can get a decent idea of how good or bad they are.

Ian

WARNING: that has nothing to do with varroa killing. And no thymol in summer to bees!
 
Thymol or formic are better bets than oxalic acid.

They are all as good.

Thymol and formic acid are used as vapour
Oxalic acid you may use dribbling or spraying.

In spraying on each bees covered side of frame are sprayed with 3% solution.
 
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thanks for clarifying Finman.

Only reason I'd feed at this time of year is that i know they have drawn wild comb already across the old frames in said manky old BB, so to shook swarm onto new foundation mid june, when flows can vary.....

people will be thinking i'm not re-using years old frames at this rate.... JOKE!!!
 
WARNING: that has nothing to do with varroa killing. And no thymol in summer to bees!

"It is a sophisticated slow release gel matrix, ensuring correct dosage of the active ingredient thymol. Thymol is a naturally occurring substance derived from the plant thyme. It has a proven high efficacy against the varroa mite and is also active against both tracheal mite and chalkbrood."

I thought that the reason not to feed in summer was because the thymol could find it's way into the supers, since it's a shook swarm there wont be any, but I'm more than happy to be educated.

Ian
 
I thought that that was because the thymol could find it's way into the supers,

It was first said: "some thymolised syrup might be a starter" this will not work against varroa

"It is a sophisticated slow release gel matrix, ensuring correct dosage of the active ingredient thymol. Thymol .......is also active against both tracheal mite and chalkbrood."

That is thymol vapour which affects.

Against chalkbrood there is no chemical treatment. It means that thymol does not work

.
 
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It was first said: "some thymolised syrup might be a starter" this will not work against varroa

So you're saying that thymol doesn't work against varroa or only when it's in syrup. I'm learning lots here and although I'll be treating with Apiguard later in the season, I assumed that thymolised syrup would have some amount of efficacy against varroa.

Ian
 

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