Varroa treatment post A/S

[Beeline]

I'm currently considering some varroa treatment on my nucs as I see it as a good time to treat whilst little brood present. Having done both Autumn and Winter treatments and seen the amount of drop, I have no faith in counting the daily drop on the inspection boards as a barometer of the varroa load present.

I have two scenarios:

- One nuc has a virgin (perhaps not ) that emerged 7'ish days ago;

- One nuc has a newly introduced mated queen (hopefully alive ), introduced 8 days ago.

Do I:
- Oxalic treat;
- Apiguard treat (1/2 portion only for nuc);
- or introduce a frame of open brood from the mother hive (may have shallows of brood from the 'half brood'), then remove and destroy.

and, at what stage should I treat? After she has started laying?

Thanks.

 

[Midland Beek]

Oxalic acid is a small dose varroa treatment to treat bees that are clustering, like they do during winter. The broodless colony with an unmated queen should ideally be sprayed with a larger dose lactic acid treatment.

As for your nuc with the new queen I just would not disturb them.

 

[Finman]

.
Do you know that you have too much mites now?

Nuc has allready brood. No idea to give to them larva frame.

Let the queen mate and start laying. Then spray it with 1% oxalic acid water solution.
At same time take that small brood amount off.

All treaments are harmfull to open brood and so to build up. Let the build up go forward. If you must do a false swarm for swarming, it is again a possibility to clen mites.

But in basics, the yield season is not a right time to handle mites with thymol or with formic acid gasification. Nuc has not yield problem.

 

[oliver90owner]

I might give them a roll in sugar while they have open brood. Only to be done in a secluded apiary (not the average back garden on a residential estate!).

I have a funnel and shake the bees into a clean carry-box with the sugar, and make sure they get a good coating. Queen is left on the brood frames along with the very small amount of missed bees. The well-rolled bees (so all are comletely smothered in icing sugar) are then run back into the hive along the usual sloping board with cloth. The first capped brood are then culled (forked out) to remove the missed mites which will likely have entered these cells just before the capping stage. It works. It uses no chemicals which may harm your new queens.

Other alternatives are thymol for a few days (while only only phoretic mites are present) or formic (never used it early in the season and is particularly temperatiure sensitive - can kill bees or they may abscond?).

I have never yet shook-swarmed a nucleus sized colony. I have always considered them to be too small for rapid comb building (there again, my nucs are generally not 'small' -6 frame 14 x 12s).

Choices, choices. Depends on so many things. I just dislike oxalic acid unless absolutely needed, so If I were to get a bad case of mites (rarely do) early in the season, I choose my method after taking all my local conditions into consideation.

With one colony and little experience, follow the crowd. If I were to lose a colony it is not the end of the world for me.

I would certainly not be treating with apiguard for a long period, as I have experienced queens going off-lay - and that is not good for a small colony.

RAB

 

[Finman]

.
Oliver, your oxalic fobia continues. You are ready to recommend stuff which stinks rest of summer.

Sugar rollig magic!

be a man Oliver!

 

[oliver90owner]

Stay a sheep, Finman.

You apparently haven't a clue as to the efficacy of sugar rolling compared to dusting the frames. Try it and see before you denigrate it. You may surprise yourself.

 

[Finman]

Stay a sheep, Finman.

You apparently haven't a clue as to the efficacy of sugar rolling compared to dusting the frames. Try it and see before you denigrate it. You may surprise yourself.

I trust on researches.

Sugar dusting was generated in Finland Helsinki University 12 years ago. NO ONE IN FINLAND USE IT.


my time to surprice me in beekeeping is over. i have better to do.
Varroa is so serious opponent that I do not play 2-hive owners games.