Guilfordbeekeepers.org

I just got back from checking on the club's bees at the Ag Extension. Both are queen right, of good strength, and generally look good. I did sugar rolls on them to assess for varroa mites and got the following counts: Ag1=30, Ag2=0.

I am going to go for a quick and dirty knock down of the "walking around" mites with the OA vaporizer. My plan is to hit both hives since they are in such close proximity to each other.

I decided against OA for the hive with a -0- mite count, but did give the 30 count hive a treatment Monday. My plan for now is to do another sugar roll on Sunday for both hives. Since OA does not kill mites under capped brood (only Formic Acid--Mite a Way--does) I will be especially curious to see the count on the treated hive.

I never got around to the mite count just after the knock down, but I did wind up putting a half treatment of MAQS on each hive in late September. Both are queen right and look healthy. The hive with the original -0- count continues to be stronger than the one with the 30 count. I am planning a "Mite Patrol" visit for OA applications sometime around mid-December.