worried after inspection :(

[robsbees]

Have inspected the hive today after 15 days (bad weather prevented earlier), and I'm a bit worried about what I found in the brood box:

HM was present however
only a very few capped brood cells,
a couple of dead larvae,
a couple of bees with deformed wings,
lots of obvious varroa mites
around 20 dead bees on the floor outside

the girls look very busy bringing in huge loads of orange and very pale yellow pollen,

I have put my inspection board in and will check it tomorrow for varroa fall.

I've got some hiveclean that I'll take up tomorrow too and put in

would be very grateful for any advice on what to do about this worrying situation.

Its my 2nd year keeping bees, only have 1 hive, so I'm pretty inexperienced and bow to your superior knowledge

 

[Summerslease]

If you can see varroa on the bees then things are serious. I'd recommend treating with Apiguard. I have found it very effective in reducing varroa infestation, especially if rotated annually with Apistan strips. Good luck.

 

[drex]

To my inexperienced ear sounds like huge Varroa problem. I would not mess about with hiveclean, but while they are broodless I would dribble with oxalic acid

 

[drex]

Apiguard works better in warmer temps and who knows if they are resistant to Apistan, without a test?

 

[aberreef]

To my inexperienced ear sounds like huge Varroa problem. I would not mess about with hiveclean, but while they are broodless I would dribble with oxalic acid

One of my hives has a really bad varroa infestation (despite thymol in autumn and oxalic in winter which both produced good varoa drop). I'm now using hiveclean which IMO is quite effective although it obviously doesn't affect sealed brood. Daily drop without treatment is about 20, following treatment this rises to several hundred. I've repeated the treatment 3 times so far and will continue until mite numbers come under control. I took a photograph of the varroa board this morning following treatment yesterday. If I can work out how to get it off my phone I'll post it later

 

[beesleybees]

does sound like varroa may be the overall problem. Is HM laying? did you see eggs

i will ditto using oxalic to treat for varroa while they are basically broodless, far more effective than a apiguard which also needs higher temps than were having at the minute

 

[itma]

What's the stores position like? Enough 'heavy' honey frames?


With next to no brood, and no honey supers in immediate prospect, you have a wide choice of potential varroa treatments.
And they are not mutually exclusive!

A dusting of anything (Hiveclean, icing sugar, ...) should provide some immediate relief while you source something heavier duty.

 

[Finman]

.
Is now better to abandon all brood and shake the bees on clean combs.
Then oxalic acid trickling. Out temps are not enough to use thymol or formic acid.

Then restriction of the hive to the size what bees occupye and can keep warm.
Mesh floor closed.

The condition of queen revieles out later.

.

.

 

[itma]

"2nd year"
Do you have enough spare drawn comb?
Asking them to draw foundation now is surely asking too much.

Probably a good idea to sacrifice the last of the brood and be sure of clearing the hidden varroa in the brood cells.

 

[drstitson]

"around 20 dead bees on the floor outside"

thats' the least of your problems - in the sunshine and showers over the weekend i was seeing 50-100 odd bees getting caught out by each deluge and temp drop on way back from the OSR.

 

[drstitson]

How did you treat for varroa last season? and what were your various counts then?

 

[robsbees]

treated with apiguard x 2 in september but didn't kow was supposed to do it again in the winter not sure of counts at that time.

I thought the dead bees outside would be par for the cours but thought I'd mention it along with the other stuff just in case it may be relevant

thanks all so far for your answers

 

[drstitson]

the long fine autumn meant that brooding continued for several cycles are apiguard - so if the latter was suboptimal for any reason (temp, too big a box, open CB etc etc) then even 90% kill could have ended up with thousands of mites by mid winter.

many with concerns re mite numbers will have treated by oxalic trickling during the xmas hols.

As finman says might be worth sacrificing brood, probably by shaking onto clean comb or foundation (or broodless comb from colony) in a nuc (preferably poly), OA trickling (or thymol if temps appropriate) and feeding.

 

[robsbees]

we have very little in the way of brood at the minute so will do an oxalic acid treatment as soon as possible,

thanks

 

[robsbees]

another question re oxalic acid treatment, will this affect the honey at all ?

 

[aberreef]

another question re oxalic acid treatment, will this affect the honey at all ?

By the sounds of your hives condition I wouldn't have thought they are bringing any surplus in atm and will definately eat whatever they have stored as their condition improves. I don't think OA will leave a taint like thymol; it is a poison but is naturaly present in honey in low levels

 

[drstitson]

you'll be lucky to have a colony in June let alone a honey crop.

treat as a last ditch attempt to save them but be prepared for the worst.

can you beg some frames of brood and bees from neighbouring beeks to supplement the colony once treated?

 

[aberreef]

Would re-queening be a good option aswell? I'm figuring she's not in too good shape considering the lack of brood

 

[drstitson]

IMHO NO.

colony is declining so won't be able to look after much brood PLUS nurse bees riddled with viruses so brood will just get infected.

 

[itma]

treated with apiguard x 2 in september but didn't kow was supposed to do it again in the winter not sure of counts at that time.
...

Thing needed was to check the Varroa counts a few weeks after treatment, to check what remained after treatment was over.
That would indicate what to do next.
So its always a good idea to check the drop at least every month.

Right now, it sounds like the need is to do something fast, no time to waste if the colony is to be saved.
So dust, feed and insulate until you can get your hands on some strong stuff.
You can, quite cheaply, buy made-up-ready-to-use Oxalic as "Trickle2" from Th*rnes and elsewhere. You might even consider trying Apistan/Bayvarol as a follow-up in the hope that your mites are not resistant (and that the weather warms up a bit).
Think in terms of saving the colony, not of trying to get a crop from them this year.