Guilfordbeekeepers.org

when are most of you planing on treating for mites and such. from what i have read it needs to be done before winter, but i am not really sure what to treat for and when and how much. the other catch is that i am trying/wanting to do it all organically. any ideas?

>>>> the other catch is that i am trying/wanting to do it all organically. any ideas?<<<<

Shotgun....Pure, natural lead, a basic element. Blow'em away!

Actually, you shouldn't treat for mites at any time, unless you first do a mite count. Freelance treating leads to resistant mites.

Now is as good as any time to treat those hives that need it. Thymol products are the most effective organic products I know of for mites.

My recomendations...
Apiguard
Api-Life Var
Mite Away 2

All these are considered organic treatments. All fairly effective.
Thymol based products should be used now.
Formic Acid may have to wait a bit.

These applications are less likely to cause any mite resistance.

I've begun my Fall treatments. My bees are still gulping sugar water, so they are getting Fumagilin-B for nosema prevention. I understand that a study earlier this season in the western part of the State showed high levels of nosema spores in bees that were not showing symptoms we associate with the traditional nosema (dysentary).

I have done my 24 hour (72 hours divided by 3) sticky board mite counts and have determined that 4 of my 7 hives have above 60 mites/24 hours, but less than the loads I found last year. I am scouting each of the 4 hives I intend to treat and am developing a plan to make things go smoother. I am treating with Apilife VAR.

I started treatment this morning with one hive. It had a deep and 3 mediums originally with the 3rd only partially drawn and the 2nd almost all capped sugar water honey and honey. It was crowded with bees. Last week I located the brood in the 1st medium so that I knew where to place the 4 tablets (not directly over the brood). I used my Bee Quick and fume pad to drive the bees out of the 3rd medium, removed it and froze the partially drawn frames.

Today I sprayed cooking oil on the plastic bottom sheet and put it in place to seal up the screened bottom board. I was somewhat concerned about crowding the bees too much and having them back fill the brood areas, so I removed 3 frames of capped "honey" from the 2nd medium and replaced them with 3 partially drawn frames. It will give more space and something for the bees to work on if we get a fall flow during treatment. If they do nothing with these frames, I will give them back their capped frames for Winter feed. I placed the Apilife Var above and outside the brood in the 1st medium, replaced the 2nd medium and the feeder on and closed the top. None of the honey that I removed or will leave in this hive is for consumption since it has sugar water as a base and will have Apilife Var. If it overwinters well, I will give it different frames to fill.

I wore gloves since many of my hives are getting testy and prone to sting with little provoction. I would like to know what other folks are doing and when and what you are finding with your mite counts.

I plan to start mite counts this week.
I will be using Apilife Var on the hives that warrant treatment.

Fall treatment threshold for varroa is 60-190 mites caught per 24 hrs. on count sheets.

I did a powdered sugar drop on the hives below treatment threshold last year.
After treatment I did a mite count and the sugar drop reduced the mites about 50%.
I probably will repeat the sugar drop again this year on hives with counts 30-59 per 24 hrs.
It will take a few days to do the counts on all my hives but, when I get the counts I will post them.

Norma

<<<I understand that a study earlier this season in the western part of the State showed high levels of nosema spores in bees that were not showing symptoms we associate with the traditional nosema (dysentary).>>>

This is true.

My bees were tested for Nosema in mid June. They were not showing any symptoms.
The test was offered by state inspector Jack Hanel when he spoke at my local bee club. I was curious so I decided to get my bees tested along with several others in the club.
The results took about a month and showed Nosema spore counts 5 times the amount considered high by the NCSBA!

I treated my bees with Fumagilin-B immediately.

I did treat my bees in the spring with Fumagilin-B, I used warm syrup to dissolve the fumagilin powder which may have made the spring treatment inert!

Don't forget to treat with Fumagilin-B this fall.

Norma