Winter OA Trickling

[pargyle]

Made me laugh Hoppy
by your own admission, weren't you suppose to on best behaviour at the moment?

This is his best behaviour ... you should see some of his past behaviour ! He is starting from a low base ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

weren't you suppose to on best behaviour at the moment?

This is 'best' for him

 

[user 819]

Made me laugh Hoppy
by your own admission, weren't you suppose to on best behaviour at the moment?

Also made me laugh.
If that is bad behaviour keep it coming.

 

[Erichalfbee]

This is 'best' for him

I still had to edit one post

 

[beeno]

Interesting comment from a Regional bee inspector last week on a webinar I attended. He always vaps
Nucs especially if small, though of course you have to take care not to over - treat due to their size. Said he’s had issues with dysentery when trickling, especially if the Nuc is small. Perhaps caused by the sugar solution. Was surprised to hear that but mention as thought interesting. Will be vaping my Nucs carefully this winter

More likely that his bees suffer from high Nosema load.

 

[oliver90owner]

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again.

If you need to get rid of lots of varroa in the middle of winter (over 500 mites reported by beano?) you have missed the boat.

A great number of your winter bees will already have been infected, with viruses, by the varroa nymphs feeding from them while pupating. The best time to rid your colonies of varroa is just before the winter bees are produced, thus encouraging a cohort of healthy bees to take the colony through the winter and into the spring expansion phase.

One only needs to look at the carpet of dead bees (or lack of it) on the hive floor, in the early spring, to understand how important it is for healthy bees to take the opportunity to increase the worker numbers in the all important spring expansion phase. Dead bees are utterly useless for that!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again.

If you need to get rid of lots of varroa in the middle of winter (over 500 mites reported by beano?) you have missed the boat.

A great number of your winter bees will already have been infected, with viruses, by the varroa nymphs feeding from them while pupating. The best time to rid your colonies of varroa is just before the winter bees are produced, thus encouraging a cohort of healthy bees to take the colony through the winter and into the spring expansion phase.

One only needs to look at the carpet of dead bees (or lack of it) on the hive floor, in the early spring, to understand how important it is for healthy bees to take the opportunity to increase the worker numbers in the all important spring expansion phase. Dead bees are utterly useless for that!

I agree completely yet the likes of Ratnieks suggest you can get away with just one OAV in winter provided you destroy all brood !

 

[Ian123]

As above winter treatments are not meant as a 1 shot wonder for the season. There belt and braces for autumn treatments and to give you a clean as possible start for the following season. Simple fact as the brood area contracts from peak numbers as a percentage more brood is affected by the mites and your winter bees. Quite simply it’s foolish not to protect those bees you’re relying on to carry the colony over winter. Ian

 

[user 819]

I agree completely yet the likes of Ratnieks suggest you can get away with just one OAV in winter provided you destroy all brood !

Quite invasive technique for the time of year, yet I know a local beek and she is going to try this out ? She has already carried out an Autumn series of vape.

 

[Apple]

As above winter treatments are not meant as a 1 shot wonder for the season. There belt and braces for autumn treatments and to give you a clean as possible start for the following season. Simple fact as the brood area contracts from peak numbers as a percentage more brood is affected by the mites and your winter bees. Quite simply it’s foolish not to protect those bees you’re relying on to carry the colony over winter. Ian

Randy Oliver suggests a comprehensive all season around test and treat regime to keep varroa mite levels at a very low level... one shot of OA trickle in mid winter will possibly cause more damage to the colony by knocking the queen out for six?
Help the bees keep their fat bodies healthy.

 

[North End Bees]

. one shot of OA trickle in mid winter will possibly cause more damage to the colony by knocking the queen out for six?
Help the bees keep their fat bodies healthy.

One shot of OA trickle in midwinter will probably cause more damage to the colony because the missed August treatment will have depleted the fat bodies of the developing winter bees over the previous 4 months.

 

[BugsInABox]

Randy Oliver suggests a comprehensive all season around test and treat regime to keep varroa mite levels at a very low level... one shot of OA trickle in mid winter will possibly cause more damage to the colony by knocking the queen out for six?
Help the bees keep their fat bodies healthy.

What he mostly seems to say is end the year no higher than you start or you’re not sustainable and treat early when signs of varroa rising. He seems pretty agonistic about how to actually achieve that.
That said his OA strip option hasnt Worked for me and I’m expecting a dodgy winter/spring.

Has anyone used his excel model?

BIAB

 

[Ian123]

Randy Oliver suggests a comprehensive all season around test and treat regime to keep varroa mite levels at a very low level... one shot of OA trickle in mid winter will possibly cause more damage to the colony by knocking the queen out for six?
Help the bees keep their fat bodies healthy.

Never had any issues with queens after trickling. Or rather should say not enough to notice and with others losing far more than me I’d take the chance.

 

[Apple]

Never had any issues with queens after trickling. Or rather should say not enough to notice and with others losing far more than me I’d take the chance.

Think this is anecdotal, and the queen may have been on the verge of popping her cogs anyway .... and no chance of supercedure in midwinter?

 

[pargyle]

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again.

If you need to get rid of lots of varroa in the middle of winter (over 500 mites reported by beano?) you have missed the boat.

A great number of your winter bees will already have been infected, with viruses, by the varroa nymphs feeding from them while pupating. The best time to rid your colonies of varroa is just before the winter bees are produced, thus encouraging a cohort of healthy bees to take the colony through the winter and into the spring expansion phase.

One only needs to look at the carpet of dead bees (or lack of it) on the hive floor, in the early spring, to understand how important it is for healthy bees to take the opportunity to increase the worker numbers in the all important spring expansion phase. Dead bees are utterly useless for that!

RAB ...you're back ... we've missed you ....

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Totally inappropriate comment.
Probably best to keep opinions on book-learning to the other current thread where there are already divisive opinions on it.
Keep this thread actually about OA. Otherwise we could easily take any or all of the threads off-topic this way.

That's standard operating procedure

 

[beeno]

Never had any issues with queens after trickling. Or rather should say not enough to notice and with others losing far more than me I’d take the chance.

Neither have I, but I believe I have lost 4 to MAQS

 

[North End Bees]

Neither have I, but I believe I have lost 4 to MAQS

I've never lost any to maqs. High temps and lack of ventilation are the usual causes of queen failure with it.
Pack says max 29°c, I'd say even 25 is a bit high. Also put it on in the evening not in the middle of the day. Full ventilation is key.

I seldom use maqs (my usual autumn treatment is apiguard) but I've very occasionally had to use it in late spring.

 

[beeno]

I've never lost any to maqs. High temps and lack of ventilation are the usual causes of queen failure with it.
Pack says max 29°c, I'd say even 25 is a bit high. Also put it on in the evening not in the middle of the day. Full ventilation is key.

I seldom use maqs (my usual autumn treatment is apiguard) but I've very occasionally had to use it in late spring.

I agree, first three days were about 20°C with a lot of bearding on my strongest colony. Moved empty top box to open slit for increased ventilation until they went in the following day. All well this year.