talked to a guy from our bee club and he said he had heard of a out break with mites any news on this?
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talked to a guy from our bee club and he said he had heard of a out break with mites any news on this?
Hmm, well if you mean varroa mites, they are pretty much everywhere in the continental US, even in Minnesota. That mite (get it? :D) be why the University of Minnesota published this pamphlet on how to sample for varroa mites:
http://www.beelab.umn.edu/prod/group...set_381124.pdf
yes I ,know mites are everywhere and I know how to test for them a few ways. It was just that he told me it was a big out break and maybe people that dont use chemicals might have to. But I got a feeling he was talking about when we get our packages in the spring. They come from calif.
i wonder if he was talking about tracheal mites instead. varroa mites are usually a much bigger problem in the summer and fall, but i haven't heard of any unusual outbreaks of either kind.
All i know is that ive lost 20 hives this year. All my Nucs are fine and the only ones ive lost are production hives. To this point my apairies have been all ferel stock. They usually fend off the mites. I dont know whats going on but im down to 49 hives and kinda frustrated about rebuilding in the spring. I did buy some queens last year but they are in the nucs. All of the dead out clusters have plenty of honey and just a fist full of bees frozen. They were all busting in the fall. It has to be varroa destructer.
man that's tough bm. are you going to try anything different this time around?
Well, I think we are all faced with 2 choices. Treat our bees and never let them build up tolerence against varroa or let them sort it out. Obviously some of my hives are hygenic enough to handle it. Last year i only lost a couple with no treatment. Im not sure what went wrong this year. It is what it is =) It sure does suck when it goes wrong...
yeah. it would be nice to know how many mites are too many and mean almost certain death for a colony.
do you think the problem could have started with one or two and spread to the others?
It's a numbers game, hygenic behavior only goes so far and at a certain mite population the colony will collapse because too much brood is being lost by bees cleaning them out and/or mite pressure is killing them regardless. Then the cluster slowly shrinks through winter as the older bees die off or leave with mites.
Indeed. You need to treat that in some way to help the bees.Quote:
Originally Posted by JRG13
This pattern follows what MP talks about often; He doesn't treat nucs but does treat production hives.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeeManiac
Mel Disselkoen takes it a step farther and says production hives given a QC and broodbreak in July don't need treatments either. He also states since that is the most common time for bees to supersede, many folks think a survivor hive has superior genetics when in fact it was the natural brood break that saved the hive.
Mel Disselkoen makes a lot of sense and the reason I'm splitting in July with walk away splits. Breaking the cycle is usually a good answer to most pests of all kinds across the spectrum. When the chain is left unbroken is usually when booms occur which overwhelm. Swarming may just be the closest thing to "naturally" dealing with the mites. To me, walk away splits simulate this for at least half the split. Maybe queen sequestering would work for the other half to keep brood limited and away from drone production thus knocking the mites back.
Be very careful. Queenless splits in July in Florida strikes me as a recipe for small hive beetle mayhem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nature Coast beek
On the issue of swarming possibly being the way bees treat themselves for mites.
I have seen information that the break in brood to a large degree starts well before actually swarming. possible weeks before. Think about the back filling of the brood nest that is commonly known to happen. how is this effecting the mite? Mites are coming out of cells on emerging brood but finding no cells to enter or doing so to many mites per cell etc. This all is leading up to a reduction of mites do to being over populated in the hive that is producing fewer and fewer places for them to go. keeping many of them exposed to being groomed or chewed by the bees. Ending in a period of no brood for a period of time.
I'm curious why a brood break promotes SHB Dan. Is this local to the southern states or a general rule?Quote:
Originally Posted by beemandan
What do you mean by "out break"?Quote:
Originally Posted by larrymn
Daniel, whereas swarming my result in what appears to be an effective manner of addressing Varroa mite infestation, a colony of bees doesn't swarm because of Mite presence.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Y
I think he is referring to a decrease in overall bee population as a result of the brood break. A strong hive has a much better chance of containing SHB, a weak hive... no chance. And yes... it is kind of a southern thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonShackelford
.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonShackelford
A southern thing to be sure. The further south, the worse the problem. SHB are an epidemic in Florida…where the poster I replied to lists as home.
It isn't the brood break that causes the problem...
Basically a midsummer, queenless split is a double whammy from an shb perspective. First, by midsummer shb populations are at their peak. The best defense is an extremely strong, populous, queenright bee colony. So following the split you are left with a weakened parent colony and a relatively weak split. Because the split is queenless, the bees tend to be much less protective of the nest and it creates an extra opportunity for these pests.
not sure what he meant but I will see him this sunday and ask and let ya know. I am thinking that he was refuring to the package bees we get from calif that they have a good chance of having lots of mites on them and ya might have to treat right away when ya get them. Because I believe he said that calif is having a problem with lots of mites in hives, I will find out more info on sunday and post it.Quote:
Originally Posted by sqkcrk