Varroa advice

[Falesh]

I've just done a 24 hour sticky board check and found 21 mites, I also did a hive inspection so that might have knocked some more off then usual. The colony has something like 50,000 to 60,000 bees. That seems like a level that indicates the hive needs treating. However the queen is still laying at almost full rate and plenty of honey is still coming in so I don't want to remove the supers and treat just yet.

So does anyone know if the level of mites is reasonable and is ok for me to wait till the honey really stops coming in to treat with thymol or would it be better for me to get a treatment that doesn't contaminate the honey and do that now? Any advice is welcome!

 

[Oscarmonster]

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/public/BeeDiseases/varroaCalculator.cfm

Have you tried the beebase varroa calculator?

 

[Swarm]

MAQS doesn't contaminate the honey.

 

[Arfermo]

MAQS doesn't contaminate the honey.

MAQS will probably put the queen off lay, maybe permanently, at a critical point before autumn as it tends to be more aggressive than Apiguard - particularly at the start and when the bees are not used to it. Risky. Best wait I reckon until 3rd week in August, remove supers and use Apiguard while the late summer weather is warm enough to complete the 4 week treatment per the advice on the packet.

 

[Falesh]

Thanks for the advice! I think I'll go with Apiguard in a week or so.

 

[Swarm]

MAQS will probably put the queen off lay, maybe permanently, at a critical point before autumn as it tends to be more aggressive than Apiguard - particularly at the start and when the bees are not used to it. Risky. Best wait I reckon until 3rd week in August, remove supers and use Apiguard while the late summer weather is warm enough to complete the 4 week treatment per the advice on the packet.

You keep saying this, Arfermo and we had this discussion before. Have you used MAQS?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've done eight hives this year with MAQS. Not a single problem. I did have last year but then I used it at "thymol time" on single boxes. This year I treated earlier with supers on top as per updated instructions.