[AmericasBeekeeper]

Welcome, do you have any specific questions, want to catch up on the changes, or learn all you can? I have mostly beginner and intermediate information on my websites.

americasbeekeeper.com
americasbeekeeper.org

 

[AmericasBeekeeper]

There is a drug or chemical for every problem. The thing that never changed is the diseases, pests and parasites are developing resistance to the chemicals and they have side-effects.
For Varroa choose Formic acid, Fluvalinate, or Coumaphose. Warning Coumaphose messes up humans worse than mites or bees. Wear plastic gloves, wash your hands or get someone you do not like to put the strips in. Natural treatments for Varroa are screened bottom boards, traps with oil in the bottom, sacrificial drone combs, like Pierco green frames, and requeening with hygenic stock like SMR, VSH or Minnesota hygenic.
Combatting Tracheal mites use menthol, vegetable oil patties, or requeen.
Requeen is a recurring theme for everything except American foulbrood. Besides a healthier, younger, vigorous queen, it breaks the brood cycle so the mites do not have a host to reproduce for several weeks.

 

[AmericasBeekeeper]

The most important point with miticides, strips in the hive is to follow the directions. If it is left in too long mites and small hive beetles develop resistance so none of us can use that product. You cannot use strips when the girls are gathering honey for human consumption. Recent research you can find at IFAS (University of Florida) shows the strips and chemicals are almost worthless already. IFAS also used powdered sugar and it showed short term mite reduction and the mites were back in power in several weeks. Suppress Mite Reproduction (SMR) and Varroa Suppression Hygeine VSH were the precursors to Minnesota Hygenic breeding in that order. see the original work and IPM at
http://www.beebehavior.com/bee_enemies.php
Requeening is easiest when there is nectar coming in and hardest when the workers are unemployed or overworked just to survive. I won't touch the current state of the Union or how drones are nearly worthless. I said drones not politicians read carefully.