[ben393]

At the end of July, I treated both of my hives with Formic Pro. Since I only had 2 patties available then, I took the 1 patty for 10 days applied twice route.

Treatment finished this past Thursday. When I opened the hive to remove the patty, an alcohol wash revealed there were more mites at the end of treatment than at the beginning.

Since this is a very critical time for getting mite as low as possible, what action should I take?

• Should immediately treat using a different product?
  
  
• Should I isolate the queen to break the brood cycle -- and while broodless -- treat with a product like oxalic acid to remove the phoretic mites? Or would I risk going into winter with too few bees? (The hive occupies 18 deep frames total. The brood nest occupies about 8 frames.)
  
  
• Should I perform a split?
  
  
• Or, is it too late to accomplish anything?

Thanks!
Ben

 

[JWPalmer]

If you are not going to be harvesting fall honey, I would use Apivar strips. Easy to get than setting up for OAV.

Probably too late for spits in NY state and you definitely not want to induce a brood break this late.

 

[little_john]

Well, I'm biased - as I started a sequence of 4 (x 5-day) VOA applications just yesterday. This is about two weeks later than planned, due to a patch of bad weather during August.
That's what I would recommend - even if it is a hassle to set up. But as I say, I'm biased.
LJ.

 

[Jack Grimshaw]

This is quote from the Nod Apiary Products Formic Pro FAQ web page.This may have a bearing on your mite counts.

" Formic Pro works by penetrating the brood cap to kill mites where they reproduce. The majority of mites (80%) in a hive are found under the brood caps feeding on the developing bees. After a treatment, phoretic mites (mites found on adult bees) have dropped, however mites killed under the brood caps will drop as baby bees emerge from their cells. To get a more accurate mite count, wait a full brood cycle, or 7+ days after treatment."

I have talked with Tom(can't remember last name) from Nod a few times and he is extremely knowledgeable about this product.They have done thousands of tests with formic and respond well to inquiries.
Go to the Nod site,find contact info and use it.

Formic acid can be tough on bees.I would be hesitant to immediately apply another miticide without determining what happened with the Formic Pro treatment.

You don't state what your mite count was.
6 or 60?

https://nodglobal.com/frequently-asked-questions-formic-pro/

 

[ben393]

After a treatment, phoretic mites have dropped, however mites killed under the brood caps will drop as baby bees emerge from their cells. To get a more accurate mite count, wait a full brood cycle, or 7+ days after treatment.

Jack --

Thanks for pointing this out! Somehow I had overlooked this in the instructions. I will do another mite count this coming Thursday before making a decision on treatment.

Also, before I started treatment, I counted 3.6 mites per 100 bees, and then after treatment I counted 5.3 mites per 100. So, not a huge increase. It seems like it could very well be the result of new workers.

I will post an update once I do another mite test.

Ben

 

[tsainswo8768]

Jack --

Thanks for pointing this out! Somehow I had overlooked this in the instructions. I will do another mite count this coming Thursday before making a decision on treatment.

Also, before I started treatment, I counted 3.6 mites per 100 bees, and then after treatment I counted 5.3 mites per 300. So, not a huge increase. It seems like it could very well be the result of new workers.

I will post an update once I do another mite test.

Ben

If the numbers you typed are correct 3.6 per 100 vs 5.3 per 300. Than I don't think you saw an increase in your mite numbers

 

[ben393]

Yes, that was a typo, thanks for pointing it out! it is fixed now.

 

[ben393]

I did another alcohol wash today, and again found 5 mites per hundred bees. I'll be treating again, this time with Apiguard. Hope that works better.

 

[aran]

Im in upstate NY also
I use a rotation of apivar or OAV x 5 rounds in spring, formic pro in summer, apivar after the honey pull and OAV single round when broodless in early winter.

 

[wildbranch2007]

Im in upstate NY also
I use a rotation of apivar or OAV x 5 rounds in spring, formic pro in summer, apivar after the honey pull and OAV single round when broodless in early winter.

I do the same except use apiguard after the flow, only times I have had mite problems, they were not my mites late in the season.