[jwsjeff]

I read this on John Seaborn's site, wolfcreekbees.com and this is what he recommended for Varroa. Has anyone tried any of the following, should I try them all or is there one that is the most effective? Also, I don't know what he means by "double SS" in the first bullet point.

• Put 5-8 drops of Thyme Oil in 16 ounces of mineral oil, shake it up and squirt it on a paper towel making a double SS. Then put it in the hive on top of the frames up till 3 weeks before the honey flow and anytime after the honey flow.
• Mix 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder with 1 cup of water in a blender on low speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the cup of blended mixture to a gallon of sugar water, mix by shaking, and feed it to the bees in early spring up till 3 weeks before the honey flow. Can be used again in the fall after the honey flow.
• Put 4 ounces of granulated sugar per deep hive box into a blender on low speed in order to make your own powdered sugar. The powdered sugar that you buy in the stores contains corn starch which the bees cannot digest. Place the 4 ounces of home made powdered sugar into a ziplock. Use one 4 oz. ziplock to a deep box and 3 ounces per medium box. The next time that you are in your bee yard, dump the sugar onto the top of the frames. Use a new paint brush ( must be a foam type ) to brush the powder off of the frames onto the bees early in the morning or late in the evening once every ten days for a total of four treatments starting in late August and continuing into September. It's best to have screen bottom boards for this. If using a solid bottom board, place cardboard in the bottom before dusting and then afterward remove it.
• Use 20-25 drops of Thyme oil in 16 ounces of mineral oil if you use a fogger for mite control. Walk by the landing board and put the fogger into each hive for 8 to 10 seconds and then move on to the next hive.
• A very effective treatment for Varroa mites on artificially sized 5.4 bees and the natural 4.9 bees is the Wintergreen Oil Study found at www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa/varroa2.asp

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

• Put 4 ounces of granulated sugar per deep hive box into a blender on low speed in order to make your own powdered sugar. The powdered sugar that you buy in the stores contains corn starch which the bees cannot digest. Place the 4 ounces of home made powdered sugar into a ziplock. Use one 4 oz. ziplock to a deep box and 3 ounces per medium box. The next time that you are in your bee yard, dump the sugar onto the top of the frames. Use a new paint brush ( must be a foam type ) to brush the powder off of the frames onto the bees early in the morning or late in the evening once every ten days for a total of four treatments starting in late August and continuing into September. It's best to have screen bottom boards for this. If using a solid bottom board, place cardboard in the bottom before dusting and then afterward remove it.

I can't comment on thyme oil, garlic, or wintergreen because I don't use them. I DO use powdered sugar dusting, however, and have done so for quite awhile now. The paragraph above is really off on a number of points. First, you don't HAVE to grind your own. Tests have shown the bees don't ingest enough of it to be affected by the corn starch, so it is safe to use commercial powdered sugar. Next, I use one cup (8 oz) per BOX. Thirdly the timing is way, way off. Sugar dusting only affects the phoretic mites (the ones on the bees) but about 80% of the mites are in the cells. The only way to get them by dusting is to do it often enough to catch them as they are emerging and before they reenter the next cell. That means dusting every other day for 2 weeks. That can make a serious dent in their numbers, especially if its done during a brood break.

Powdered sugar dusting can be pretty effective if it is used properly and IF you are keeping resistant bees. But I would not rely on it as the sole control if you do not have resistant bees to start with.

Personally I do sugar shakes throughout the summer and use the sugar dusting if I find any mites. BUT in the late fall/early winter when there is no brood, if I find any mites in my sugar shake, I use OA.

HTH

Rusty

 

[sqkcrk]

The first step in addressing a potential problem is determining whether you have a problem. Mite sample your hive(s) to determine whether you have too many mites.

I don't have any problem w/ your list. I'm skeptical whether any of those things actually have any beneficial effects. But they probably don't do any harm.

 

[chickenia]

I am in the Blue Ridge Mountains in NC, and a man who has kept bees for over 30 years, said he puts a Luden Menthol cough drop in the back two corners of his hives and that is also what some of the ole timers have done.....have you heard of this before? I made some rock candy with menthol crystals last year and put one in each of my hives, and was not bothered at all with mites. I am not sure if it was due to this or all the wet spring and summer we had here!?!?!? Thanks.

 

[sqkcrk]

Back when tracheal mites were a problem menthol crystals were used by beekeepers in an attempt to address those mites. Beekeepers who liked to do it themselves and save some money used menthol cough drops. Their is evidence that neither "treatment" is effective.

Dr. Gard Otis of Guelph University, Guelph, Ontario, Canada did a study back in 1987 or 88 along the NY side of the St Lawrence Seaway using menthol impregnated candy blocks. He found no benefit.

Again, doesn't do any harm most likely.

 

[chickenia]

Thanks...I was just wondering, the menthol drops I made sure helped MY throat though, I think I will just stick to that.

 

[beemandan]

The first step in addressing a potential problem is determining whether you have a problem. Mite sample your hive(s) to determine whether you have too many mites.

The added advantage to doing this is you can retest after treating and see for yourself how effective the treatment was.