what medicine do i need to give to my hive?

[bees]

I am new to beekeeping and wondering what medicine do you need to give your hive to keep the pests away and for anything else

[riverrat]

if there is no problem in the hive than nothing should be used. if there is a problem you need to treat with what will help the situation. what you use will depend on the problem being treated most good bee books will tell you what to use for what ever ails the hive.

[Brent Bean]

I agree with riverrat, I don’t take antibodies when I’m not sick so why would you treat your bees if they aren’t sick? As far as keeping pests away that you will need to practice. However there are no silver bullets so you will need to practice Integrated Pest Management. Best way to figure that out if you don’t have a good beekeeper to show you the ropes is start reading, there are a lot of good books out there.

[Michael Bush]

I don't treat them for anything at all. But unless you do something and unless you monitor in the meantime, you may lose them to Varroa mites.

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

[moonlightbeekeeper]

If I had my druthers I'd ruther not have to treat them either but when I have left them to their own devices I find that I loose over half of my hives. If I treat them with simple preventive measures I can cut my losses to less than 10%. If you dont have the experience to know how to check your bees and no one to help you, spend the money for just one book "the hive and the honeybee" available from dadant & sons @ dadant.com. You can find the book in numerous editions but the only one you should pay any attention to is the one that was revised in 1992, the reason for this is that it was extensively revised that year, and all the info you need regarding the pests and diseases that affect the bees is covered. It is now in its seventh printing of that revision (2005). Kinda shows how popular it is. It was originally written by L. L. Langstroth. in 1853, Funny how somethings never change, while others have to!

[tecumseh]

I would suggest that you pm george ferguson (he is a maine beekeeper and many of your concerns will likely be somewhat regional in nature) and see what kind of program he employs.

good luck...

[Oldbee]

bees: How many hives of bees do you have? I have "only three". You will find that on BEESOURCE most, "advice/opinion" that is offered does NOT encourage the use of "medicines/chemicals" for the control of diseases/pests of honey bees. If you are a first time beekeeper, of course you wouldn't want to see your [first] hive DEAD next spring. I'am going to treat my hives later this summer with Apiguard; a thymol based miticied. After a few years of your "experience" you may decide that you wish to NOT use any chemicals in your hives! An Integrated Pest Managment [IPM] program of caring for your bees is the best way.