fall medications

[Iliketrees]

Hey, just wondering what you guys do for your bees in the fall to get them ready for winter. I am new to beekeeping, and a beekeeper with lots of experience helped me on sunday. we put terramycin (might of been other things mixed with it not 100% sure, that's what we called it though.) around the edges of the box on the frames where the majority of brood were located. It is suppose to prevent AFB. Then on the inner cover used formic acid. I was told to repeat the terramycin application in about 10 days. This is in northwest ohio. I was kind of reluctant to put any chemicals in my hive, my hive was very healthy this year.

On another beekeepers hive in that area, he said he suspects there might be AFB. then he described to us how it spreads by spores and all that stuff. The brood pattern he saw was patchy but not black and didnt stink. any idea what else it might be?

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Patchy brood can be great hygeinic bees too. Antibiotics are not recommended when there are no symptoms. All that did was make diseases more resistant and add another stress or two to the bees. Antibiotics kill good things in the bee just as it does our digestive system. The bee just has a smaller digestive system so it is more than upset stomach. It is susceptibility to IAPV, KPV, Nosema, tracheal mites and the like leading to CCD. There is a strong corrolation to the use of chemicals by beekeepers with the increase in CCD, probably because the IAPV increases due to stress.

[longrangedog]

Buy mite resistent/brood disease resistent bees (USDA Russians) and throw your treatments in the garbage.

[BigDaddyDS]

In addition to masking any evidence of AFB that you may have in your hive, or helping to make AFB more resistant to Terramycin, the instructions you've followed have effectively "nuked" their winter pollen stores, which had been fermenting to be used as bee bread. Natural yeasts in the pollens, and used by the bees, are killed by antibiotics.

I'd also like to point out that formic acid, in the form of pads (Mite-Away II) should be placed on the top bars of the frames closest to the brood nest. You will probably need to use a spacer (medication rim, or Imirie shim with the entrance holes blocked off.) Formic acid pads should NOT on be on top of the inner cover, as you've indicated. The directions for the pads, if that's what you used, should have stated that.

Not meaning to get down on you, but I'd seriously look into joining a local bee club. A beekeeper with "lots of experience" is great, but I'd really recommend getting a second (and third) opinion rather than following someone who's tending bees the way he's been tending bees for 30+ years, or whatever. Besides, clubs are a great social event for us beekeepers!

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To answer your question though, hygienic bees can create a patchy brood pattern. As can a poorly mated or older queen who's running out of sperm. AFB, on the other hand, is characterized by a pierced or punctured capping, which may be ragged in appearance. The larval remains will also be stuck fast in the cell and appear black and tar like. Fresher diseased larva will rope out. There are other identifiers for AFB, as well as lots of references on the Interwebs about AFB. Google away and learn all you can. You may change your management techniques and philosophies with further education!

Happy beekeeping,
DS

[garlicbee]

if you have started treatment make sure you follow the label directions or it would be like taking 1/2 your antibiotics to treat an infection
you can always change your mind next year and not treat but once you have started treatment make sure you finish it or you may encourage resistance!

[Countryboy]

This time of year, a spotty brood pattern can also be caused by the bees storing pollen in random cells, and the queen laying around the cells of pollen.

Terramycin is usually used in the spring for AFB prevention. Terramycin can also be used for EFB, but that usually hits about the same time the flow is kicking in.

What method of formic acid, and what dose? If the liquid, you normally dribble it between each of the frames in the broodboxes.

There are foulbrood spores in every hive. Don't let it bother you that you might have foulbrood spores in your hive. That's normal. Just because you have foulbrood spores does not mean your hive has foulbrood. Hives only break down with foulbrood once the concentration of spores becomes too high.

[bbbbeeman]

i AM WITH BIG DADDY, do you take med` if you are not sick.what you are doing or what he did is causing spores to become resistance to terramycin . now if your hive hadfoulbrood them I would burn the hive that has the bacterium and then treat the hives in the bee yard.I dont use any chem` unless the need my help it has been 16 year sence I treated my hives with chem` good luck rock.