Hivastan for Nebraska mites

[Dave W]

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has been asked by the University Entomology department for an emergency Section 18 registration for Hivastan, a product distributed by Wellmark International. The active ingredient fenpyroximate, is not temperature dependent and can reduce (Varroa? [DLW]) mite populations at a critical time when other products cannot be applied. Fenpyroximate is delivered in a patty that is placed on top bars of colonies. In removing the patty material, bees contact the miticide and distribute it throughout the colony by physical contact w/ other bees. The product is for use when honey supers are not present [ABJ, 10/06, p803].

I guess mites are a problem in Nebraska smile.gif

[magnet-man]

This is the only hit that Google came up with for Hivastan.

California State Beekeepers Association 2006 Convention will be held November 14-16 in South Lake Tahoe.

4:15 pm "Hivastan - a new Mitecide for Varroa Mites"--Doug Vangundy, Wellmark, Intl.

http://www.californiastatebeekeepers.com/events.htm

[ October 03, 2006, 04:47 PM: Message edited by: magnet-man ]

[Michael Bush]

Oh goody. Another chemcical to put in my honey, er, I mean my hive...

;)

The bit problem in Nebraska is they are pretty much all Apistan resistant and are rapidly becoming Checkmite resistant.

[Dave W]

Hey! Check this:
http://www.chinese-pesticide.com/insecticides/fenpyroximate.htm

[Bob Harrison]

The bee havers and short sighted commercial beekeepers looking for a short term varroa fix will buy the product.

Its buyer beware these days when buying used comb and complete beehives for a couple reasons.

1. contaminated wax. Bees do not thrive on comb which has had apistan and checkmite used yearly over the last 10-15 years. LET ALONE SNAKE OIL TREATMENTS!

2.Combs from hives which have died from varroa displaying PMS signs.

I really did not believe the source when I was told around five years ago that reused comb with PMS would cause varroa loads to become lethal again as soon as varroa loads rose. I ran two years of tests and agreed with my source.

We ran a small test of around 1000 deep boxes of comb with PMS signs. New bees were installed and PMS was showing before fall. Virus loads are more lethal than varroa in my opinion.

I replaced all comb in my hives ( took four years and was expensive) and will not use this new chemical( or any other chemical pesticide).

On another note:
I predict hive loss this winter like beekeeping has not seen in years and mostly caused by severe drought in areas. Getting hives up to wintering strength this fall has been a chore. I have been fighting lack of fresh pollen and nectar and abnormally small clusters. After two months of work I believe they will winter without problem.

If i (and help) had not rolled up our sleves and combined,fed pollen patties and light syrup I would guess I would have had winter losses in the 50-75% range.

I am on the mailing lists of many almond brokers.
The following is from Lyle Johnston (former AHPA pres and runs around 50,000 hives in almonds).

" The devastating drought throughout the mid-west will cause severe stress on hives going into fall. This will lead to very high winter losses. There were a few pockets that did produce but many beekeepers have reported the worst crop since they have been keeping bees." ( I am one of those beekeepers! Bob)

"We have all had poor crops before and no matter what you do to the bees after a bad crop such as pollen patties and feed, the bees just never seem to recover and look healthy."

60% of all hives in almond pollination spend summers in the Mid-west!

I do not agree totally with Lyle's last comments as I do believe if you have got the time and can create an artificial honey and pollen flow the bees will raise winter bees ( mine did!) and avert huge winter losses. Feed alone will not save the bees this year and light syrup & patties will not save the bees if applied too late.
My next (and most likely last winter)feed will be straight 55% fructose as winter is almost on us in my area of the Mid west.