Hello all....I have a mite problem. But have a question that I can't really find an answer to...here's the scenario. Just want to point out that we are third year beekeepers.
Aug 29th: hive inspected by my beekeeping partner. He saw the queen and the hive looked busy and healthy. this is a second year hive that has swarmed at least twice this year. the first swarm was recaptured and is now a thriving hive.
Sept 12: On inspection we saw the queen and she had a mite on her! We applied api life var and decided not to do anything else. not alot of capped brood so we took a frame of capped brood from a very very healthy populated hive and placed it into this "sickly" hive.
Sept 13: decided to go into hive and apply powdered sugar. NO QUEEN. some robbers (mostly other honey bees...no yellow jackets or hornets). saw a few bees with deformed wings. entrance reducer placed. decided to do nothing else because we had previously lost a hive to mites and just felt real powerless. by the way, our three other hives are fantastic!
Sept 14: took another look. population not great. honey super is about 50-60% capped.
Our question is....do we just take the hive apart and sacrifice those left behind? what can be done with those honey supers? the frame of capped brood?
I'd like to thank you all in advance for any input...
Thx
Zoe
Aug 29th: hive inspected by my beekeeping partner. He saw the queen and the hive looked busy and healthy. this is a second year hive that has swarmed at least twice this year. the first swarm was recaptured and is now a thriving hive.
Sept 12: On inspection we saw the queen and she had a mite on her! We applied api life var and decided not to do anything else. not alot of capped brood so we took a frame of capped brood from a very very healthy populated hive and placed it into this "sickly" hive.
Sept 13: decided to go into hive and apply powdered sugar. NO QUEEN. some robbers (mostly other honey bees...no yellow jackets or hornets). saw a few bees with deformed wings. entrance reducer placed. decided to do nothing else because we had previously lost a hive to mites and just felt real powerless. by the way, our three other hives are fantastic!
Sept 14: took another look. population not great. honey super is about 50-60% capped.
Our question is....do we just take the hive apart and sacrifice those left behind? what can be done with those honey supers? the frame of capped brood?
I'd like to thank you all in advance for any input...
Thx
Zoe