[Scitfrostbite]

So after I finish my three treatments of OAV, I want to do a alcohol wash but is it recommended to wait a certain number of days since in theory the OA in the hive should keep killing for some period of time? Or, do most people test right away? Thanks

 

[snl]

OA continues to kill until carried out by the bees, which when they are flying is at most 3 days. So testing on day 4 after OAV should give you a decent count of the mites remaining.

 

[johno]

My feeling on this is to wait 7 to 10 days, give time for any mites you may have in the brood to emerge. I feel that 3 treatments is not sufficient to really make a dent in your mite population as I think if 20% are phoretic 3 treatments will get no more than 60% of the mites in the hive, so the closer you are to the last treatment date the less mites you will sample and the longer you wait the more mites will emerge from brood and you will get a better Idea what you have.

 

[John Davis]

I agree with Johno on timing although for a different reason.
Also agree with Larry - SNL on timing of continued kill.

When we talk about mite counts we are counting the mites on the bees in a stable mite population.
That means that the usual distribution of about 25% of the mites on the bees and 75% under the capping with the pupae.
Treatment thresholds are based on that.

Remember that when the mites come out with the emerging bees they feed for several days before going into another cell to reproduce.
After the last treatment, if you test before the mite population has stabilized again, you will get an artificially high number because you are counting "extra" young mites that have not entered brood cells.
Waiting 7-10 days for the mite population to balance gives you a better comparison of actual before and after treatment counts.