Fall mite control

[BEES4U]

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef012.asp

Control
Menthol pellets can provide some control of tracheal mites. A perforated packet containing 2 oz. of menthol pellets is placed in each hive in the apiary where tracheal mites are found. The packet should be placed on the bottom board during warm weather (80oF) or on the top bars when maximum daily temperatures are cooler than 60oF outdoors. As temperatures rise and air exposure increases, the menthol vaporizes and its fumes fill the colony. As the bees breath the vapors, the mites are killed. During cool or cold winter weather mite control with menthol is not as effective. It should not be used in a colony during the nectar flow because honey supers are being filled.


Fall: Begin the first menthol treatment and follow label instructions.
Two treatments, 21 days apart, are needed to get good results.
Apply vegetable shortening patties to all colonies.
Patties are made of 1 part vegetable shortening to 2 parts powdered sugar, and should be placed in the brood nest.
If no nectar flow is occurring, colonies should be fed a light syrup (1 part sugar to 3 parts water) to stimulate heavy brood production.
A large population of young bees will be needed for successful wintering
Please make comments.
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

[high rate of speed]

Dont forget your pollen sub.

[Dr.Wax]

I'm glad you brought this up. I've been meaning to ask a question.

Do T mites need to be routinely treated for preventively in the fall or only when you detect a problem?

Also what are the veg shortening patties for?

[high rate of speed]

T mites.

[Dr.Wax]

What is the mode of action?

[Michael Palmer]

Menthol pellets can provide some control of tracheal mites.
Two treatments, 21 days apart, are needed to get good results.
Apply vegetable shortening patties to all colonies.

Do it right the first time to save time, material and money.

Are many beekeepers still using menthol and grease patties for TM control? I think it has been shown often enough that our bees are quite capable of developing resistance to TM.

In the UK, where TM got its start, studies have shown that TM has all but disappeared, and has become a minor pest...I'll post that if I can find it again. One such study showed that the bees initially developed a resistance. Reports of TM problems dropped way down, but then had a spike about 20 years in...which also disappeared. I believe the same is happening here. That 20 year spike is showing up. Won't treating susceptable colonies at this point only prolong that spike?

[BjornBee]

Won't treating susceptable colonies at this point only prolong that spike?

Yes.

The breeder continues to breed from such poor stock, and the beekeeper who buys such stock continues to lose colonies (when he no longer continues such treatments) and then buys more from the breeder. So it not just perpetuation of the weak genetics, but it perpetuates the busness. Odd if you think about it...

This is why some smaller beekeepers are finding out that once they let a few be culled out, they actually have much stronger genetics and better survivability rates once they start breeding their own. On one hand, most beekeepers do not treat for t-mites, and on the other hand, they also never test for t-mites. So in the end, they have a stronger line, compared to the breeder who constantly treats and markets his bees in some superior way due to his size operation or rate of overwintering success (which is due to all the treatments and NOT for the better bees that he sells).

[Michael Palmer]

...and on the other hand, they also never test for t-mites...

They don't have to. The Great Equalizer does the work for them...Winter!

[Jeffrey Todd]

Yes.

The breeder continues to breed from such poor stock, and the beekeeper who buys such stock continues to lose colonies (when he no longer continues such treatments) and then buys more from the breeder. So it not just perpetuation of the weak genetics, but it perpetuates the busness. Odd if you think about it...

This is why some smaller beekeepers are finding out that once they let a few be culled out, they actually have much stronger genetics and better survivability rates once they start breeding their own. On one hand, most beekeepers do not treat for t-mites, and on the other hand, they also never test for t-mites. So in the end, they have a stronger line, compared to the breeder who constantly treats and markets his bees in some superior way due to his size operation or rate of overwintering success (which is due to all the treatments and NOT for the better bees that he sells).

This is my experience exactly. Admittedly it is not easy, however, to sit and watch colonies die. But it is worth it in the long haul. Being free from the expensive and sometimes onerous task of medicating all of your colonies is well worth it. There are much better ways to spend your time and money than perpetuating weaker strains of bees.

[Robert Brenchley]

We don't hear much about tracheal mite here in the UK, though it may not always be detected. Beowulf Cooper made an interesting comment; when he was acting as a bee inspector, he found that many of the hives that starved over winter had TM. It made the winter cluster more agitated, so they used more food, and in the small broodboxes which are widely used over here, this was fatal. If he was right, then there was major selection pressure against susceptible bees. I'm not sure whether this would apply in the States or not, as I'm not familiar with your way of beekeeping.

[BjornBee]

I'm not sure whether this would apply in the States or not, as I'm not familiar with your way of beekeeping.

Of course it applies here. Just perhaps not across the board to include everyone. I think you have three groups of breeder. One- breeders that have no problem treating for mites and anything else that could be a detriment to their operation Two - Breeders who continues to use band-aid type treatments, hoping to fool themselves into thinking that they are one step up due to their use of "soft" or more "natural" treatments. Three - Those breeders that use no treatments at all except equipment options and taking advantage of what mother nature does anyways, like brood breaks and using young queens, selection pressures, etc.

The ideal situation for larger breeder is to set aside a number of hives every year (100 for every 1000 hives), and let mother nature dictate what survives and allow the selection process to play out. So if you did this to 10% of hives, then the breeder constantly upgrades their stock. I know some have done this in the past, and it was Glenn or OHB that discussed this with me once before. But for the most part, from my conversations and observations, it lack any real effort and risk in selecting for such things as t-mites resistant bees from breeders on a larger scope.

The fact that most breeders (who advertise in the bee mags) do not make claims much in the way t-mite resistance, speaks volumes. I had outlined last year about twenty breeders from the bee mags, and not one mentioned t-mites.

[Ian]

>>Are many beekeepers still using menthol

Yup, and it sure works!
Especially important to have our hives t mite counts down for those somtimes long and cool springs. If there is a t mite infection in our hives here, the problem can be handled during a good spring, but during a cool slow spring, the losses seem to keep adding up!
Compound that with v mites, and nosema, the bees just cant handle it sometimes,

[dickm]

Someone asked the mode of action of the grease pattys. The greasy bees smell all the same and it's hard for the questing mites to latch on to a young bee to colonize it. Obviously it's not an emergency treatment.

dickm