sticky board test

[kenr]

I did A 24hour sticky board test with my two hives and on my strong hive I counted 40 mites and on my weak hive I counted 15 mites should I treat or do another test later.This is new packages installed this year.Also on my weak hive they were five dead bees on the board is this normal.

[drobbins]

ken

for new packages this year that sounds worrysome
I'd do something about it, what have you been planning to do?

Dave

[George Fergusson]

I'd say both hives are at risk. I wouldn't be too worried about a strong hive dropping 15 mites, but in a weak hive, that could represent a significant mite population. 40 mites a day in any case is a lot of mites, enough to be very concerned about. I'd get both hives on a treatment program of your choice and keep monitoring.

5 dead bees on the landing board is not uncommon, the weak hive probably doesn't have the population to handle the undertaking chores. A strong hive would get rid of those dead bees in a hurry. I'd be on the lookout for bees with deformed wings.

[kenr]

I don't want to use aspian stripps because of what I've read and heared about what it does to the queen.api-life maybe since this is my first year at this I would appreciate any help also I'm regressing these bees and although I'm not going organic I still don't want to contamate the wax with any chemicals.THANKS for any help

[George Fergusson]

I hesitate to make specific recommendations for treatments because it's a personal thing and mileage may vary- what works well for one person may not work well or be acceptable to another.

That said, I'd use vaporized oxalic acid and/or powdered sugar given the time of year. Later in the fall after brood rearing had stopped I'd use oxalic acid drip. I agree about Apistan, I've never used it and don't plan to start anytime soon. I've never used formic acid but might consider it, I understand it's fussy about temperature.

Given your mite load and the time of year, your hives are clearly at risk. I won't say it's too late to do anything, but in spite of your efforts, your hives may not make it. I hope they do. Search this site and you'll find lots of information about mite treatments. Others will give you their suggestions. Good luck!

[kenr]

I did an powder sugar drop on my hives today 1/2lb per hive is this enough and I plan to do another Sat or Mon.I also learned something that I'll do from now on they are almost out of honey I would'nt have thought that as we just came off sourwood it must have been A bust for necture this year so I'll check in the middle of Aug. to see how there honey stores are.I made up some 1-1 sugar water is this fine or should I go 2-1 thanks.

[kenr]

How often would you do A sugar treatment.

[iddee]

I would go stronger than 1:1.

[George Fergusson]

>they are almost out of honey

Heavily mite infested hives usually don't forage well.

[2rubes]

Hi, I would dust your hives with powdered sugar every 5 days this late in the season. You should do this 4 times, which should capture most of the mites. If you do a 24 hour test, do it 4 or 5 days after you use powdered sugar, your mite count stays higer because of grooming. I have instructions and pictures here
http://countryrubes.com/instructionspage4.html
Sincerely,
Janet

[kenr]

Folks I did another sticky board test yesterday and looked today.My findings were on my weak hive I counted about six mites and on my strong hive the one that had around 40 to 50 mites it looks about the same amount as last week if I can tommorow I'm going to do another sugar treatment on the infested hive.ONE QUESTION is 1/2lb of powder sugar enough for three med,hivebodys it did'nt seem to be last week I'm going to do all three hivebodys separate unlike I did last week where I poured the sugar down the third hivebody and let it work it's way down the frames.

[sierrabees]

That's the best way to do it. It's doubtfull that the space between the frames would line up through three boxes, so the bottom super likely didn't get much on the bees. I use about a cup of sugar in a sifter on each super, then brush it as thoroughly as I can between the frames. I start with the bottom, add each super after I finish the one below, treat that one over the top of the first, and work my way up. I find that a lot of bees will cluster around the entrance when I am finished and If most of them don't look dusted I try to throw a little on them too.

[2rubes]

I try to dust the bees as late in the day as possible, most of the field force is in, but if I must dust in the day, I put a pile of powdered sugar on the landing in front of the entrance. Only do this during a honey flow, it promotes robbing during a dearth.
I orginially did not split our hives and found the same, that the sugar would settle on the top of the frames of the super below, more for the girls to clean up. I perfer to the sugar to not sit in the hive any longer than necessary. It does harden into icing, making it more diffcult for the bees to remove.
But, our first treatments last year, without splitting the supers, produced a lot (1400+) on the sticky board.

Janet

[Carl Holcomb]

Does anyone remember the old dry garden dusters. On one end there is a can with a spout in the lid and the other end looks like a hand pump. What I'm wondering is if this might work to apply the sugar.

[Dave W]

Carl Holcomb . . .

I remember them well [img]smile.gif[/img]

When applying powdered sugar, you need more than just "dust" (IMO).

[kenr]

Thanks for the imput folks do you think that sugar alone will get my mite load down or should I be looking for something else. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[iddee]

I don't think any one procedure will wipe out your mites. It is going to take a combination of things to save your hives. One I would look closely at is the fgmo and thymol. It takes 2 to 3 seconds to treat a hive without ever opening it. With sugar, SBB, fog, open ventilation, and any other ipm components you might want to try, you can be mite free, or so close that you won't have to worry about them.

[Michael Bush]

>Thanks for the imput folks do you think that sugar alone will get my mite load down or should I be looking for something else.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesvarroatreatments.htm

[Kevin M]

I tried sugar treatment this week, but i don't believe the sugar i bought from MannLake is the right one...My bees weren't looking duste at all when they came out of the entrance.What i bought was 100% sucrose sugar, called Beekeepers sugar...its more granulated than powedered...I asked this question elsewhere here on the forum, and someone said they just used Domino's powdered sugar from the from grocery..
is this okay to use...?i'm concerned about the cornstarch in sugar tat is said to mess up the bees digestive system...Can you folks tell me what sugar you are using for mite treatment and where you get yours...? I just feel after treating the bees with the Beekeepers sugar from MannLake, that i didn't get the job done right...someone who knows, please advise...thanks..kevin

[Kevin M]

Sorry for the double post folks, Mike G told me in the other post i posted,that he got the word from Domino's that there is a mimiual amount of cornstarch in there powdered sugar, i will try it....