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I think this is a drone

5K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  honeyshack 
#1 ·
#11 ·
I get what your are saying swamprat of course drone eggs can be deposited into worker cells but the cells become much larger to accommodate the drone bee and have the typical raised cell that is easy to recognise as drone brood.

I was thinking you had it in mind that a drone hatched out of a typical small flat worker cell and I was a bit flumoxed:s

LOl I need to go to bed my brain has given up working:sleep:

frazz
 
#18 ·
DWV = deformed wing virus
It is a virus which is always in the hive, but shows signs when the bees are weak mostly due to mited pressures.
The basic premise is:
-The mites attach to the adult bees, breakin their "skin" and feeding off them. The weaken the bee, shorten the life span
-As the days progress, the mite levels get higher, feed on more bees. The bees which have been foraging and are now weak, can no longer fufil their task. The younger bees which are weaker from being fed on, move up to be foragers too early. double wammy on the shortend life span of the bee
-fewer or weaker foragers do not provide enough food for the hive.
-by this time there are nurse bees who emerged weak due to the varroa feeding on them in the cell. These nurse bees eventually become foragers and their life span is again shortened even more
-Since the nurse bees are weak due to being fed on, they can not fulfil their task properly, which is feeding the young.
-the young emerge weak (from poor nutrition) and damaged from the varroa which were in their cell. These are the bees which emerge with DWV
Should mention, mites hide in the cells under the royal jelly until the cell is capped. The "momma" mite first lays a male. It matures and mated with it's it's momma and then she lays a few more mites. Not only do the mites feed on the larva as it developes, but it also defecates in the cell where the larva is...ripe breeding ground for viruses
The cleaners can not clean the hive as well as they should because they are weak.
The foragers can not forage as well as they should because they are weak
The queen can not out pace the mite levels.
As the older bees die before their time, new bees have to move up the chain to replace. Again this shortens their life span two fold (moving up to early and weak from mite damage)
Once the hive weakens and can not maintain it's nutrition level, and can not clean the garbage as needed, virus loads surpass threshold which has dropped because of health issues

Mite levels doubles by percent every three to four weeks...dependin on if they emerge from worker brood or drone brood
In the spring at 1% mite levels honey production in the summer can be compromised
At 4% at any time brood damage becomes apparent
In August 4% is more than likely winter mortality if the hive is not treated
In September while still brooding, 4-8% will be sure hive death between December and February

Mites and DWV 101
 
#20 ·
So what do I treat the mites with thus time of year. What should I use as a beginner to treat them. I may fork some drone out this week and see how many mites I see on them what is the number I should worry about when I do this test. I would like to stay chemical free if at all possible. Thanks
 
#21 ·
if you fork and you see a few in the drone...you have a problem. Number of drones is realitive to the number of mites. However Medhat Nashir (bee guru) has a saying...if you see seven, you have a problem...big problem

Randy Oliver says this....

"There is a strong trend among recreational and sideline beekeepers away from synthetic miticides, motivated largely by the desire to engage in "chemical free" beekeeping. However, you can not truly call yourself a "beekeeper" if your bees keep dying on you!" There is a bigh difference between natural beekeeping and simple colony neglect. I suggest that all beekeepers familiarize themselves with the pros and cons of the available miticides, should the nees arise to save a colony from an ugly death. You can visit Scientific Beekeeping.com for my in-depth articles on mite management and details on miticides."

ABJ Feb 2011 page 145

Randy Oliver walks the walk on giving up synthetic miticides over 10 years ago. But to keep the mites in check he still uses some sort of treatement as needed. In his article he does not condon the use of synthetics however he says use it wisely.
http://www.miteaway.com/ABJ_Feb_2011_Oliver_Miticides_article_145-151.pdf
Here is a copy of the article. It is a good read. Will give you alot of help and information in choosing a method of treatment
I like formic my self
 
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