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From: Pav <bobhog@pin.co.nz>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 12:44:34 +1200
To: BioBee <BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Mid-season mite 'treatment'
At the risk of being called
namby-pamby by Dee, for possibly undermining her call for all
to stand-firm and let the mites cull the weak bee-genes, i'm
forwarding here a method which knocks mites off the adult bees,
using nothing nastier than icing sugar.
Myself, i agree with Dee, that
mite-resistant bee-genes are the only long term solution, and
i recognise that everytime we prop up a hive with interventionist
mite control we prolong the natural selection of those mite-resistant
genes by allowing the continuation of gene-pool-polluting mite-susceptible
genes. However i also believe that most - even on this list
- are unwilling to do nothing to save a hive going under with
mites, and so i keep an eye out for methods of mite control which
are easy and effective without using harsh chemicals. The method
below is ARGUABLY chemical, as it involves putting a substance
in the hive, and ALL matter is chemical in make-up, however the
action is MECHANICAL (as with Drone removal), rather than TOXIC
(like essential oils, formic, apistan...). Its SUGAR for crying
out loud - get a grip! (hee hee, "get a grip", accidental
pun)
It is essentially following
through from the icing-sugar detection method, and basically
involves powdering the whole brood-nest, causing mites on bees
to lose their grip(?).
As mites in cells are not affected, a 2nd go several days later
would likely further reduce the mite population - for those of
you that feel you MUST do SOMETHING to reduce the mite population.
I have stitched together this
thread as it appeared on Bee-L and spilled over onto IBList with
some suggestions for best dispersal. Apologies as always to
those that already subscribe to both these lists.
-Pav, undoing Dee and Barry's
"screw thy courage" pep talk...
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 19:52:20
-0600
From: Dennis Murrell <hiveguy@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Varroa blaster
Hello,
I thought I would share my experience with a "varroa blaster".
Inspired by a
post from another Bee-l member, I constructed a varroa blaster
using a stout
plastic bottle(an old Salsa bottle). Small diameter holes were
drilled in
the cap. The bottle was filled about half full with powdered
sugar and a
piece of nylon stocking was stretched across the mouth of the
bottle. The
cap was screwed on the bottle over the nylon.
Several frames were removed
from each super and the remaining frames were
seperated giving each frame face two strong blasts of powdered
sugar by
squeezing the bottle.
A tray was placed below the
supers being treated to observe mite fall. The
vast majority of mites would fall off the bees within the first
minute of
treatment. Approximately 80% of the mites on the bees were dislodged
during
the first treatment. Another treatment 24 hours later dislodged
almost all
the remaining mites. [of those OUTSIDE of brood-cells. - Pav]
Mites on the tray which caught
a light dusting of powdered sugar from the
treatment were all dead 24 hours later. Previous tests indicated
mites could
live about 5 days on the trays with hive debris. The tracks they
left in the
powdered sugar dust were interesting. Some traveled a great distance
in a
small area usually less than an inch in diameter before perishing.
Most
perished without traveling at all.
No noticable damage occurred
to either the larva or the bees although some
newly hatched bees dislodged from the frames during the treatment
had
trouble locating the hive entrance. Older bees would fly back
to the hive.
Fallen mites on the mite tray were unable to attach or not attracted
to bees
walking across the mite tray.
Best Wishes
Dennis Murrell
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2001 10:10:23
-0400
From: James Fischer <jfischer@SUPERCOLLIDER.COM>
Subject: Re: Varroa blaster
Dennis Murrell <hiveguy@EARTHLINK.NET>
said:
> ...Approximately 80% of
the mites on the bees were dislodged during
> the first treatment. Another treatment 24 hours later dislodged
almost all
> the remaining mites.
This is my second summer using
powdered sugar dusting for mite control
while supers are on, so I'm interest in how you counted the mites
remaining
on bees after a "treatment".
...
jim
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Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2001 21:20:55
-0600
From: Dennis Murrell <hiveguy@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject: varroa blaster
James Fisher asked:
> How did you count the mites left on the bees after the dusting?
Hi James and Everyone,
Thanks James for the idea of
the varroa blaster.
I used 7 double story hives
and two five frame nucs to test the
sugar dusting. The double story hives were on screened bottom
boards. The nucs were not. Trays were placed under the hives
with screened bottoms. Frames from the nucs were removed
and dusted in a super over a tray.
After the initial treatment
hundreds of mites per hive were counted on
the trays. The second treatment resulted in tens of mites per
hive.
Subsequent treatments resulted in ten to less than ten mites
per treatment.
It was interesting to note
that the nucs had the same mite drop after
the two treatments as did the much larger colonies.
These numbers were consistent
with the research conducted on the effects
of screened bottom boards published in the American Bee Journal.
It
indicated an influx of 10 to 14 mites per day in apistan treated
control colonies.
Two weeks after the last treatment
when most of the brood sealed before
the first treatment had hatched, I treated the hives again. The
hives that
had the highest initial mite drops in the hundreds, again had
mite drops
approaching 100. Bees of open mated SMR stock [Suppressed Mite
Reduction genes]
had a mite drop approaching 30 and the Russians were dropping
less than 10 mites per
hive.
At low mite infestation rates
I have not had good results with either
the ether roll or the sugar roll tests. This probably has more
to do with
the sampling techniques and the resuling extrapolation rather
than the
actual effects of the sugar or the ether on the sample. I helped
my wife
through a statistics course several years back which almost resulted
in
a divorce so now I am always open to statistical rebuttal :>)
On another note, a quart Gatoraid
bottle with a double layer of nylon
between the cap and the bottle makes the best blaster yet. It
is stiff
enough to rebound easily when squeezed.
With your experience in dusting
can the mites dislodged with the
powdered sugar reattach themselfs to the bees before dying?
My observations on the trays after dusting the hives indicates
that
all the mites were dead a day later after dusting. Numerious
dead
mites were observed on the solid bottom boards of nucs dusted
while even the powdered sugar had been cleaned up.
I guess I will have to put some mites dropped the next time I
dust in a
jar with some bees and see what happens.
Best Wishes
Dennis Murrell
------------
From: John Sewell
To: <irishbeekeeping@egroups.co.uk>
Subject: Re: IBList Varroa Blaster
Hiya,
I've tried the 'icing sugar
roll' last year... unsuccessfully,
what I like about this technique
is the stocking...it presumably ensures the
particles are fine enough to stick to the pads on the mites (feet?)
or
whatever...The recomendation is to whisk icing sugar in a coffee
grinder or
such, and sieve in a dry, hot environment. Needless to say I
haven't got the
roundtuit for that. I'm looking forward to puffing some icing
sugar straight
through a stocking - sounds like a winner. A 500ml cold drink
bottle with
the wide mouth should do for a trial...
What are those blow dusters
called from the Art Department standby box Rex?
With the handle on the side that are used with Fullers earth
and such for
that 'instant patina of age'. It's on the tip of my tongue...
Thanks for this tip Hiveguy.
John Sewell
_____________________________________________________
From: Rex Boys <RexBoys@westmancote.freeserve.co.uk>
To: <irishbeekeeping@egroups.co.uk>
Subject: Re: IBList Varroa Blaster
Date: 6/07/01 09:06:00
John, why ask me what those
blow dusters are called? I have no idea. I
suggest you look around Boots for something that is normally
used for
puffing talcum powder round babies' bottoms. Or ask your hairdresser
where
he buys that thing with the red rubber bulb that he uses for
puffing talcum
down your neck.
Otherwise just wait until a
talcum powder sprinkler on the dressing table is
empty and fill it with fine sugar.
In my apiary kit I always carried
a flour sprinkler that I used when the
bees were really stroppy. They got so busy cleaning one another
up, it
distracted them from attacking me - and it worked! It was a
standard bit of
kit when I was a rookie but I suppose it is one of those things
that we
forgot to mention to the younger generation.
Best Wishes.
Gerry Atrick.
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