- Joined
- Oct 16, 2012
- Messages
- 17,451
- Reaction score
- 8,597
- Location
- Fareham, Hampshire UK
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 6
That's really sad ... what does he do now ?Yes, he was stitched up like a kipper, so he walked
That's really sad ... what does he do now ?Yes, he was stitched up like a kipper, so he walked
Eat the stems, save the leaves
Place above brood below the qx if you use one
Of course rhubarb works more efficaciously if the colonies are place on a leyline facing the direction of Mars in the night sky when Sirus is rising!
Do this on Easter Sunday..
But not in a leap year.. and if Jupiter is converging with Uranus in which case just face the hive entrance away from the prevailing wind.
Yeghes da
Well I eat lots of rhubarb and I’ve never suffered from varroa....
I just looked up Manchester Cathedral abd he’s not listed on the “staff” there He does still keep his own bees though I’m sureThat's really sad ... what does he do now ?
yes, he does, and now being over seventy, which is the maximum retirement age for Anglical clergy he has to officially 'retire'I just looked up Manchester Cathedral abd he’s not listed on the “staff” there He does still keep his own bees though I’m sure
It's OK if you are going to serve the bees as an alternative sweet snack to sugared almonds to go with your evening sherry.Sorry, back to varroa. What do people think of dusting with powdered sugar? Is it what I call icing sugar?
Sorry, back to varroa. What do people think of dusting with powdered sugar? Is it what I call icing sugar?
Might as well be treatment free and use the icing sugar to make a CAKE... did someone say CAKE ?It's OK if you are going to serve the bees as an alternative sweet snack to sugared almonds to go with your evening sherry.
As a form of varroa control, it's pointless
I’ll add my bit. Icing sugar has additives which are best left out if the moist hive environment. Powdered sugar is just that. Fine sugar. You can make your own from granulated. But make a cake with it. As above ..... its invasive and kills open brood.Sorry, back to varroa. What do people think of dusting with powdered sugar? Is it what I call icing sugar?
I’ll add my bit. Icing sugar has additives which are best left out if the moist hive environment. Powdered sugar is just that. Fine sugar. You can make your own from granulated. But make a cake with it. As above ..... its invasive and kills open brood.
You can use icing sugar, ethanol, etc in a device like this Varroa EasyCheck to monitor varroa in a sample of 2-300 bees. Early in the season, you can also monitor natural mite drop over a period not less than 3 weeks. This is an initial assessment of the infestation though. It is not a treatment.Sorry, back to varroa. What do people think of dusting with powdered sugar? Is it what I call icing sugar?
I'm not sure why having brood is an issue. If you use a varroa Easycheck (or similar) device, you have the choice of a destructive (using an ethanol wash) or non-destructive (using icing sugar) test on the WORKERS - the icing sugar doesn't have to come into contact with brood unless you want it to.I found dusting bees with icing sugar in a freshly collected swarm (still in the container before hiving them) a relatively innocuous way of stripping phoretic mites off them and based on 8 swarms ( collected from around the town a few years ago) treated this way produced mite drops (typically between 60 to around 150 mites ) similar to those dropped after dribbling the bees of other hived swarms with oxalic a few days after hiving them. Once there is brood the use of icing sugar is a complete waste of time and potentialy harmful to larvae if they get coated with it.
Two different things here ... dusting all the bees in the hive is a suggested treatment (ineffective) for varroa ... and it kills any open brood. You are talking about testing for varroa with a sugar roll.I'm not sure why having brood is an issue. If you use a varroa Easycheck (or similar) device, you have the choice of a destructive (using an ethanol wash) or non-destructive (using icing sugar) test on the WORKERS - the icing sugar doesn't have to come into contact with brood unless you want it to.
Yes. That is right. Icing sugar is not a treatment. It's one of several ways beekeepers can get an estimate of the initial infestation in their colonies.Two different things here ... dusting all the bees in the hive is a suggested treatment (ineffective) for varroa ... and it kills any open brood. You are talking about testing for varroa with a sugar roll.
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