Vaping a swarm with virgin queen?

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Ringlander

New Bee
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Joined
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Location
Norfolk UK
Hive Type
14x12
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5
Hi, I just collected a good sized swarm with what would seem to be a virgin queen. I would like to OA vape them but would like your views on whether this is advisable before the queen is known to have mated.
 
I wouldn’t. Check them in a week. As long as there’s no capped brood you’ll get most of the mites.
Just my opinion, mind, and what I would do
 
I wouldn’t. Check them in a week. As long as there’s no capped brood you’ll get most of the mites.
Just my opinion, mind, and what I would do

:iagree:

They are still in the phase of deciding whether to stay. A face full of "gas" might make their mind up in the wrong way .....
 
You likely have a couple of weeks to do this. A very quick look after a week can check for any brood. If none, just wait for open brood - without pulling the whole hive apart. Once there is open brood they are unlikely to abscond. If there is a small area of capped brood, there is nothing stopping you removing that capped brood?

If you have a little capped brood, just think when you will need to vape again - it would not be needed after 5 days unless the mite load was considerable, so only two doses required to reduce the mites quite considerably. Certainly sufficient until the autumn mite clear-out before the winter bees are raised.
 
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