Varroa level everyone?

[Beagle23]

This is slightly off topic but can anyone advise about Apilife var. Its thymol based but I have no experience of dealing with varroa. I haven't kept bees for over 35 years and varroa just wasn't an issue then. I have done a lot of reading about varroa and was suitably impressed with the scientific data but I really want to hear from folks who have actual experience of its use.

I won't be giving it to my bees again, they hoovered the stuff up and stored
it, ruining a super full of honey

 

[SDM]

I won't be giving it to my bees again, they hoovered the stuff up and stored
it, ruining a super full of honey

Shouldn't have had a super of honey on the hive when using it. Even if they hadn't stored it you had ruined it anyway.

 

[MuswellMetro]

If used as a veterinary medicine, yes.

It's legal for use as a cleaner for wood products used outdoors.

IS IT?, https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ome-users-of-poisons-and-explosive-precursors,

if you are not a company with a legitimate reason to buy oxalic dihydrate crystals other than api bioxal VMD approved treatments then you need a license for home use

Only ten percent oxalic W/W can be legally bought and stored for home use. ie wood cleaning

So dont say too loudly you use generic oxlaic crystals because none of us on here would every break the law and store or buy generic oxalic dihydrate would we

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Now there’s a thing
Generic Oxalic is illegal..... innit?

Since when did innit enter your vocabulary

 

[Gwr]

I’ve had very low mite counts this year so far and not seen any DWV. Only needed to vaporise OA on one of my 20 hives, the rest were either no existent or very low on the tests I ran.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Either my vision has gone pretty bad or I hardly have any varroa this year. I did 2 counts this summer over 10 days at the time and some hives didn't have a single mite while others had only 2 or 3. Could the hot weather have helped with this I wonder?

Virtually none.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Since when did innit enter your vocabulary

innit Bruv

 

[jeff33]

innit Bruv

I thought it would have been tidy butt or is it more down my neck of the woods?

 

[Swarm]

Mun.

 

[Beefriendly]

I’ve had very low mite counts this year so far and not seen any DWV. Only needed to vaporise OA on one of my 20 hives, the rest were either no existent or very low on the tests I ran.

When talking to beekeepers who lost hives this last spring a common theme emerged that most of them had not treated for varroa the autumn before as they felt the levels were so low they didn't need treating.
It's sometimes shocking how many varroa drop down dead after a blast of OA when little is showing in standard drop counts or accelerated with icing sugar.
It's worrying you think you have hives with no varroa.....

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's sometimes shocking how many varroa drop down dead after a blast of OA when little is showing in standard drop counts or accelerated with icing sugar.
It's worrying you think you have hives with no varroa.....

Especially the last bit

 

[Eyeman]

When talking to beekeepers who lost hives this last spring a common theme emerged that most of them had not treated for varroa the autumn before as they felt the levels were so low they didn't need treating.
It's sometimes shocking how many varroa drop down dead after a blast of OA when little is showing in standard drop counts or accelerated with icing sugar.
It's worrying you think you have hives with no varroa.....

Folk need to be confident with their mite monitoring method. The number of folk that I've spoken to who didn't realise you need to make your insert board sticky is frightening.
Good luck to you if you feel your hives have little or no varroa.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve had very low mite counts this year so far and not seen any DWV. Only needed to vaporise OA on one of my 20 hives, the rest were either no existent or very low on the tests I ran.

I need to ask. What monitoring methods are you using?

 

[Eyeman]

Mite numbers in my production colonies measured in August this year using an alcohol wash of 300 bees.

Apiary 1
10
40
20

Apiary 2
50
22
50
8
18
38
n/a

Apiary 3
5
7
1
7

Apiary 4
6
7
5
3

Apiary 5
6
3
1

Did the wash just before putting in Apivar. Also doing a course of OAV to get mite levels down ASAP so as to try and give those with very high levels a chance of surviving the winter. Wash done in May showed mostly no mites or singletons- was concerned that my method wasn't working!
Alcohol wash kit


Should have done monthly wash's but got distracted.
One of the colonies in Apiary 2 with 50 mites (17% infestation) produced approx 200lb of honey this year. Big colonies are mite factories. Despite 17% mite levels brood pattern looked perfect (on the outside) when Apivar went in.
50 mites



Interesting how most colonies in Apiary 1 & 2 have high mite levels. Likely robbing / drifting.
Will be looking at the sticky boards next week to see what the drop is like.
Not seen a single DWV in these colonies and brood patterns have been solid all year.
Just goes to show that a colony can look healthy and be productive but be on the verge of collapse. Unless I've got the benign form of DWV?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Crikey some high numbers there
At least your Apitraz is in now.

 

[Eyeman]

Yes, that's what I thought.
Told myself there's only one way to know what's going on in my colonies and that's to use a simple & hopefully accurate mite estimator. I like the fact that you can get a result straight away and just shake a frame into the bucket during a routine inspection. Also it's not too bulky to transport.
Was distracted by queen rearing and nuc production otherwise I would have checked more often. Lesson learned for next season.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Can't bring myself to kill 300 bees, even once, I work on a mite drop. Now the numbers of mites dropped may or may not be a direct guide to the infestation in a hive but I have done it my way since I started beekeeping. I tend to look at the visual density of mites dropped onto the board but I don't count them, I compare my visual images between hives and between inspections; humans are very good at pattern recognition. The important thing with this method is to inspect the board in exactly the same way every time, same length of time between inspections, don't grease the board as you can't be sure you have the same amount of 'stickiness' each time...and treat anyway at regular intervals; Apiguard as soon as the supers are removed in early August and trickle treatment with OA on Christmas day (as a guide date, although I did do it on Christmas Day last year). Hey, it works for me, my colonies have come through winter and are still alive now.

 

[Eyeman]

Can't bring myself to kill 300 bees, even once, I work on a mite drop. Now the numbers of mites dropped may or may not be a direct guide to the infestation in a hive but I have done it my way since I started beekeeping. I tend to look at the visual density of mites dropped onto the board but I don't count them, I compare my visual images between hives and between inspections; humans are very good at pattern recognition. The important thing with this method is to inspect the board in exactly the same way every time, same length of time between inspections, don't grease the board as you can't be sure you have the same amount of 'stickiness' each time...and treat anyway at regular intervals; Apiguard as soon as the supers are removed in early August and trickle treatment with OA on Christmas day (as a guide date, although I did do it on Christmas Day last year). Hey, it works for me, my colonies have come through winter and are still alive now.

That's the way to use a sticky board. Reminds me why I stopped using them and probably explains why others either don't bother or use them incorrectly. Sticky's don't work with my weekly/ 10 day inspections as the mites get hidden as the debris piles up. Much simpler and quicker to take a sample- you could do a sugar roll which will give an on site result.

 

[Hivemaker.]

you could do a sugar roll which will give an on site result.

That is what is used here if needed after a preliminary fork test, takes a bit longer but not too bad if using several jars.

 

[masterBK]

The great thing about the sugar roll compared to other methods is that it the bees leave the process alive so perhaps ShinySideUp should try it.