[Surviving Our Bees]

Today I did an OAV treatment for the apiary, as a matter of fact. Stress won't be a problem, but mites are absolutely a problem.

If you get them when temps are 40F or higher before brood rearing begins, mite levels hopefully stay negligible.

Nothing worse for bees than starting spring with mites.

 

[Tarheeler]

Best when there is little to no brood .. ie CHRISTmas around my area. Treat then retreat in a week. Def not gonna hurt though

 

[ericweller]

I would bet your bees have started brooding up. As such, OAV will not be effective as a treatment since it doesn't penetrate the cappings.

 

[Vance G]

Hello!
I’m in PA where temps are improving but still cold. Was wondering if now would be a good time to treat with OAV (provided we get the proper temperatures or would it be too stressful on them?
Thank you!
Jen

If your temperatures are warm enough that your colonies are not tightly clustered, OAV when little or no brood is present is a great idea! I treat mine every winter on rises in temperature for a clean up on the mite population.

 

[Jim Braun]

OAV is not stressful on the bees IN MY OPINION. But it is on the varroa. Most beekeepers use it when the colonies are brood less for 100% control. I am content for 85-95% control on a regular basis. Last year I applied it on an almost monthly basis for varroa control. I did NOT do alcohol rolls on hives to check my numbers but I plan on doing them this year so I can give intelligent, factual results to others. I had 8 colonies until 2/5/21. Here in Mid-Missouri we had temps that dropped to -4 F for a few days and stayed below freezing with snow for 10 days or more. I lost 1 small cluster that didn't have enough bees to survive that. That is just anecdotal evidence of my monthly OAV treatments.

That being said I looked at your for cast for the week and this would be a good time to do a vaporization application not a dribble. In the 40's F the bees will mostly be in the hive but not tightly clustered. You get the best results from OAV then and you may not have to suit up to protect yourself as most to the bees will stay in the hive.

 

[muskrat]

i agree with doing a vaporization now, but wait for a day that it's warm enough for them to break cluster and are flying some. No need to do it when they are in a tight ball.

 

[missybee]

I did OAV yesterday, right around 48f we climbed to 60f dropping again back into the 40's. I put a clean board below the hives, two dropped about 6 mites, 2 dropped no mites. In seeing the 6 mites I will now treat every 5-7 days for a month or so, when our temps let me. Catch any that are under cappings.

This year we are going to do OAV until supers are on, then start up after supers are off, early July, continue until fall, sometime in Oct.

 

[muskrat]

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