Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Fogging your bees?

58K views 141 replies 31 participants last post by  Stephenpbird 
#1 ·
So who has fogged there bees and it worked?
I seen the fat bee guy youtube using mineral oil does this work?
 
#32 ·
Attached is information on mite life cycle.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Beekeeping/Varroa_Mite

Mites enter cell with larvae about a day before cell is capped. Fogging will not be doing any harm to mites in capped cells. Think one would have to fog once a week for three weeks min to affect all the mites. I know it is recommended that Apivar strips be left in the hive for 42 days.

Mineral oil may not be effective because iy is not being appplied repeatedly. Have seen a video where a thin bead of mineral oil is applied along top of each brood frame with each inspection( some 7-10 days for hobby bee keepers).

Would appreciate any insights from others.
 
#17 ·
When is the best time to fog?
Should i wait till the flow is over ?
Can ya fog with the honey supers on {i'm going to bet not}
The fat man says every 21 day{mite cycle} i'm going with as needed what do you all think?
Thank you.
Beesorce is the best.:applause:
 
#25 ·
Me to DC so i quess we will see if it works i to am going with mineral oil i think i may give the baby oil a try since MR BEE said his uncle been using it for 30 years and is chemical free.
I bought a fogger today at HOME DEPOT so we'll see how it go's this spring
 
#23 ·
Barry: I hope when you threw out the old corduroy suits and hush puppies in your last closet cleaning that you saved the old mineral oil forum. Looks like its coming back in style. :)
 
#24 ·
Jim, fogging seems another of the varoa stories that devides beekeepers, there is some info avaiable on tests conducted by some gentleman which seems to support the fact that is effective against mites. AS also the use of formic acid and am not to sure about papers on the use of oxalic acid. I have now the means to administer all 3 of those treatments and have made use of the first two, there is no doubt that formic acid kills mites and I have used afogger on some hives with EMO and 2 drops per oz and have seen quite a few dead mites on the bottom board thereafter. So come springtime that will be anther system I would like to evaluate.
Johno
 
#27 ·
Jim, I looked, but along with the old corduroy suits and hush puppies, the FGMO forum went as well. I had it for awhile, but finally deleted it all. Remember, it started out as FGMO fogging only with a cotton cord or two that had been saturated, placed in the hive. Eventually thymol was used as well. I have a fogger that's never been used, still in the box if I could sell it to someone.
 
#29 ·
I haven't heard of any negatives associated with fgmo fogging. It no doubt encourages some additional grooming action in the hive which I suppose can't be bad. The real question is are there any quantifiable benefits in controlling varroa. I have no personal experience with it, I only heard a number of second hand accounts of beekeepers that tried it for a year or two and then quit because it didn't seem to have much , if any, effect in controlling varroa. That and the fact that there used to be a lot of spirited debate on Beesource about fgmo is about all I know.
 
#33 ·
Seems like I hear this "once a week for 3 weeks" thing a lot regarding treatments. More is better no doubt but remember a mite may only see the light of day for a matter of hours perhaps even less. When a hive is rapidly expanding its a target rich environment for a varroa. I really doubt that they spend up to a week shopping for the perfect larvae.
 
#35 ·
Suggest a read of the varraoa life cycle in the attachment above. When the adult varroa is laying eggs in a capped cell, a mineral oil application is doing nothing to control continuing infestation of hatching and emerging new varroa, unless there is repeated mineral oil application.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top