Fumidil Question

[ss91]

Is it advisable to treat for Nosema this fall even if I will not be needing to do any feeding? All my hives look as though they will be full of honey on the bottom two deeps so I do not think I will be needing to do any feeding. If it is a good idea to treat for Nosema before winter is there any other way or will I need to feed sugar water to administer the medication? Thank you for any responses.

[Michael Bush]

>Is it advisable to treat for Nosema this fall even if I will not be needing to do any feeding?

If your philosophy of beekeeping involves constant treatments for what you don't have, yes. That is the recommended time to use fumidil.

If your philosophy of beekeeping is to try to stay natural and not use chemicals then no, I would not feed fumidil syrup. I have NOT fed it for 33 years now.

[BjornBee]

Setting aside, cast in stone, black or white beekeeping philosophies, your reasoning may be a little more deeper.

I personally do not use fumildil, but often wondered if my bees would benefit from using it. But I don't see alot of the problems that would cause it to be used.

The CCD working group, MAAREC and others are recommending its use for this coming winter. It may be a bit cautionary, but I think its founded on good judgement. Certainly your bees will not be harmed by its use, your comb will not be damaged.

With that said, I won't be using it. It seems expensive per treatment, and unless you are seeing overwintering problems in the past, or have seen CCD on some level, I'm not sure if its worth it.

I think perhaps your fall flow nectar makeup, your amount of feeding, and other factors may increase any effectiveness from using it.

And yes, some sort of sugar syrup feeding would be required.

Maybe getting some feedback on people actually using it would be helpful.

So who uses it, and have you seen a difference?