O'Natural Treatment for Mites

[LittleBeeHive]

I am a new beekeeper and have been reading everything I can get my hands on from books, articles, web site and bullentin boards. First of all - I love BeeSource.

Now for the real stuff. I am pretty much an organic kind of person. I even hate treating my lawn with chemicals, just so they match the neighbors on both sides (I don't treat and I'm the brown spot on an aerial shot). I hived my beeds almost 4 weeks ago and everything is going great, except we have had pretty cold weather, so I don't think they are along as far as they should be, but Queen is laying and plenty of capped brood. I did an inspection on my SBB. It was covered with "construction debris". I did a close-up inspection with a special eye-loop magnifyer. I was even able to get close-up pictures with my camera. I did not find a single mite anywhere on the board. I did find 2 tiny tiny spiders and another small black bug that didn't look like anything I've seen in any Bee book. I am thinking of trying to treat mites, as I am sure I will get them, on an organic level with powered sugar treatment and also smoking with black walnut. My question is since I did not find any mites, should I try treating with the sugar and the smoke now? Or wait until I actually find a mite on my board. I was reading on a posting here that 3-4 treatments of sugar 7-10 days apart is what is suggested. And I will use the black walnut when ever I go into the hive. Is there any other natural easy treatment that I can do?

Thanks to everyone who replies to this and all the other postings. I value this site very much.

[Michael Bush]

If you want natural control, my preference is natural sized cells. Let the bees build what they want or give them 4.9mm foundation.

I don't think the black walnut will make much difference. I've never used the powdered sugar, but I would definitely prefer it to Apistan or Checkmite.

Drone magnet is another option.

FGMO may not be strictly "organic" in the sense that it's mineral oil, but it is an inert chemical and has a lot less impact on the hive than active chemicals such as organphosphates (Checkmite) or Apistan. But if you want to do FGMO fog you need to do it regularly before you have a problem.

Oxalic acid vapor is a pretty aggressive mitacide and is already naturally occuring in the honey.

Most treatments you can monitor the mites and use when you have a problem.

The most important thing is to monitor and then, after you use what you have decided to use, monitor to see if it's resolved the problem or not. If you don't monitor, you'll never know if it's working or not.

[power napper]

Keep up the good work, you are doing fine.

[Dave W]

Greetings LittleBeeHive,

Looking back over my "hive notes" (you are keeping notes, right? smile.gif ), I see that my first V-mite was discoverd about 2 months after installation (4/12 - 6/25).

I think its good to use a hand lens to search for mites. They are small and can be mixed w/ other hive debis.

You asked about treating BEFORE you find mites . . . The "current rule-of-thumb" is "treat only when needed".

Some "Cultural controls" are applied on a "constant" basis, and usually require a "back-up".

A good "organic" approach might be to first ask "Is it food-safe?" then, "Will it harm my bees?".

MrBee has offered the very best advice, "The most important thing is to monitor and then, after you use what you have decided to use, monitor to see if it's resolved the problem or not. If you don't monitor, you'll never know if it's working or not."

Good Luck!