[Konrad]

I'm checking for mites and have put in a sticky board, I think, I will live it in for 3 day's?

Talked to a local bee keeper and he said, I should put in Apistan strip, without, I will not find any.
Also, he advised, not to keep it in for 3 day's, 24 hr. only, otherwise too much debris fall on it and it will be hard to count.
Please advise.
Konrad

 

[Bob Russell]

Konrad
These are photos of a enhancement made up from two common plastic food jars.One a hexagonal honey jar to locate the strip holder/bee cluster plate.With its lid cut out to locate a screen.A neck and lid was cut from a second round jar to form the catcher for mite drop count from 300 bees.Test time 30 minutes.

http://tinyurl.com/8rnfd

 

[Michael Bush]

I would do a natural drop to see what the mite level is first. Personally I would not use Apistan at all. IF I thought the mite load was high enough to warrant doing something, I'd do the Oxalic acid vapor. If you don't feel comfortable with that there is powdered sugar, sucracide, ApiLife Var etc.

Even if you want to go ahead and do the Apistan I would STILL do the natural drop first so you can compare a natural drop to a drop while treating and then do another natural drop after to see if it worked.

 

[Konrad]

Thank you Bob & Michael!

This Jar set up looks great!
Apistan used to work better, but now bees get immune to this chemical.....at what mite count level do you treat, and with what?

I really like to stay away from apistan as much as possible. A small amount of bees checked like this I think shouldn't hurt.

This bee keeper I talked too said, his bees got immune to Apistan and now just treat's them with Oxalic fall & spring, not checking for mites anymore.

Is a 24 hr. drop better then 72hr.?

Konrad

 

[MichaelW]

72 hr would be more accurate, average out a 24hr count from that. I found this year the 72hr count was difficult because its hard to count over 400 mites. I wouldn't bother testing with the strip unless you want to find out if it is effective or not. To do that you need a natural fall count first. Some number of natural fall is considered OK to not treat with anything. I would think that number varies from location to location.

 

[Aspera]

A sugar roll test is a safe and effective way to assess mite levels. All you need is a jar and powdered sugar...

 

[Michael Bush]

The numbers quoted are usually 24 hour counts. So if you do it over three days, divide the total by three.

It would depend on the number of bees, the time of year, and preferably the trend of mite numbers. But if you're getting 50 or so mites a day you have enough you probably want to do something. If you have 100 or so mites a day you are more sure to need to something.

You can also open up some capped drone brood and do a sugar roll. If I see most drone without mites and an ocassional drone with one mite, I figure they are doing fine. If you see four or five mites on most of the drones you have a serious infestation. If you only see a couple of mites in the sugar roll you're probably doing ok. If you see dozens or more then you have a problem.

>This bee keeper I talked too said, his bees got immune to Apistan and now just treat's them with Oxalic fall & spring, not checking for mites anymore.

You might get by with that since Oxalic seems pretty reliable, but I think you really should always check for mites. You won't know if what you're doing is working if you don't observe the results.

 

[Sourwood]

According to the North Carolina State University Entomology Department less than 15 mites in a sugar roll test is within the economic threshold. On a 24 hour natural fall sticky board test between 60 and 190 mites is within the economic threshold.

Personally if I had 60 or more mites in a 24 hour period I would go ahead and treat.

This information was provided to me this summer of 2005.

 

[Konrad]

Thank you all!

Have decided to pull at 24 hours and have not seen any mites.

I'm not bothering doing another count with Apistan and will leave the hive alone going into winter. I will do another count early spring.

Konrad