Went through all 52 hives Saturday.
1 dead out, 51 alive and thriving but.....
9 years ago, I decided to go away from hard chemicals and move towards organic/natural treaments.
I treat each year with Apiguard. I have had some concerns and decided to do a little experiment last year. Experiment as follows.
Home yard to receive teatments as instructions indicated.
Outyards to receive only one treatment.
Home yard bees were alive and well but cluster size was smaller than I would like. A few clusters were of concern but I believe that they will make it through OK.
Out yard bees (20 + hives) thriving to the point of covering all ten frames across. Clusters were huge and some required feeding just to be sure.
I will continue to be cautious in the years to come when using Apiguard.
NO question
-
Kurt Bower
- Guard bee
- Posts: 692
- Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2004 2:04 pm
- Location: Julian, NC
- Contact:
Interesting "NO question" post.
All I have heard from our inspector and at the state meetings is no matter what you use rotate treatments. Wow so much for mites becoming resistant to Thymol.
The no questions I have are:
The one treatment in the out yard hives, was it a full recommended treatment for the recommended amount of time?
Any mite count history on the out yard hives? Wondering if its a mite resistant bee or the one treatment or both?
Kurt, thanks for the information!
All I have heard from our inspector and at the state meetings is no matter what you use rotate treatments. Wow so much for mites becoming resistant to Thymol.
The no questions I have are:
The one treatment in the out yard hives, was it a full recommended treatment for the recommended amount of time?
Any mite count history on the out yard hives? Wondering if its a mite resistant bee or the one treatment or both?
Kurt, thanks for the information!
Last edited by ski on Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
I would also like to know WHEN the treatments started and ended in each yard. I have been thinking that I want to treat as late in the summer/early fall as I can which would still give some brood build up/recovery time after the mite knock down (and probable brood production slow down) during treatment. I am hoping to get as many of the over wintering bees produced as possible with a reduced mite load/loss of new brood to mites.
-
Kurt Bower
- Guard bee
- Posts: 692
- Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2004 2:04 pm
- Location: Julian, NC
- Contact:
Good thoughts on both posts.
To expand...
I like to treat as early as possible but am constrained to waiting until all my honey is off. This often puts my treatments off until mid August.
My treatments are within the guidelines of what is called out by Apiguard. WHen I first chose to use Apiguard I did extensive research and found that many considered dosage too high. When treating as recommended, brood rearing ceased until the treament cleared.
WHen using this thymol gel in August, evaporation is relatively quick and the product was never in the brood chamber for more than a few days and definitely not as long as 2 weeks. In past years I had noticed that it was very difficult for the bees to regain strength after treatment. I have not seen mite resistance and do not consider this to be an issue.
Remember, some of the most critical egg/brood rearing occurs in Late August and early September. These bees are the ones that will bring the colony throug the winter into the Spring.
My observations indicate that over-dosing (while recommended) causes a broodless period that can be catostrophic to the overall health of the colony. Clusters as large as a football or bigger are essential in October to a successful overwintering.
To expand...
I like to treat as early as possible but am constrained to waiting until all my honey is off. This often puts my treatments off until mid August.
My treatments are within the guidelines of what is called out by Apiguard. WHen I first chose to use Apiguard I did extensive research and found that many considered dosage too high. When treating as recommended, brood rearing ceased until the treament cleared.
WHen using this thymol gel in August, evaporation is relatively quick and the product was never in the brood chamber for more than a few days and definitely not as long as 2 weeks. In past years I had noticed that it was very difficult for the bees to regain strength after treatment. I have not seen mite resistance and do not consider this to be an issue.
Remember, some of the most critical egg/brood rearing occurs in Late August and early September. These bees are the ones that will bring the colony throug the winter into the Spring.
My observations indicate that over-dosing (while recommended) causes a broodless period that can be catostrophic to the overall health of the colony. Clusters as large as a football or bigger are essential in October to a successful overwintering.