TF experiment swarm fail with 33% mite load. Will OAV 5 rounds in 21 days work?

[Tennessee's Bees LLC]

Testing out the provap on this loaded down colony will 5 rounds in 21 days actually work?

Here is a couple days after round 4 with Alcohol wash test.
https://youtu.be/ZHSjpSs-0bA

Checking the brood after round 3 of OAV
https://youtu.be/-7sDVWpjdGc

The initial Alcohol wash. Washed a 94
https://youtu.be/mzBrVp50sTo

[trishbookworm]

Hey! That's great that you are actually using the tools available - the alc wash - to see what is happening with your bees.

Key question about whether the hive will make it - what is the state of the hive now?
Do you see at least 3-5 frames of fairly solid (covered 2/3 or more of frame, few open holes)?
How many frames are covered with bees?
Do you have stronger colonies you could poach from if needed?

In my area, the forage starts to get pretty sparse in about 3 weeks, then after oct 15, usual frost date, it's over. So the queen has this very narrow window to make "winter bees". Those are critical to the hive surviving the winter - the stretch where the queen is not laying and bees are just dying off slowly.

If you have a hive covering at least 10 frames now, and with at least 3 frames of capped brood now, and you are feeding it sugar syrup to boost brood, as well as pollen patty if there is rain - they should make it.

If those conditions are not met - then poach from other hives so that they are met.

Again, it's not really about the current bees - it's about getting enough winter bees emerged from capped brood from now until the queen stops laying. That's the goal, but the current bees feed the winter bees. Too few current bees, then poorly fed winter bees, then the hive will either collapse over winter or start out so weak it can't build up. And then it is a mite bomb waiting to happen for other hives around... so do eliminate the mites!!!!

[JWPalmer]

Trish you should check out Kamon's YouTube channel to see where he is coming from. Lots of really good information and he is not afraid to show the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of beekeeping, as he does with this hive. He also has a really cute young apprentice that makes an appearance now and then. She steals the show from her dad under camerawoman mom's watchful eye.

[Oldtimer]

The brood you show in video 2 after round 3 of OAV looks very good, very encouraging. Keep doing what you are doing and looks like the hive will be fine.

The other interesting thing to me anyway, was that where i am, by the time a hive reached a 33% mite load, it would either be dead, or have extremely shotgun brood and probably need the addition of a frame or two of good point of hatch brood to have any show of surviving. Yet your first video does not show that, I'm wondering if this is evidence for different virus types in different areas.

[gww]

Hi Kamon
I am with jw on your vidios and also your little helper stealing the show at times.
Cheers
gww

[Fivej]

Agreed on all points. You need to hammer them going into winter, and he has the cutest helper that seems like is angling to take over the whole operation in a few years. J