Best course of action re treatment now ?

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And my point was that he was talking b*llox :D

You'll note that I said
... (I'm sceptical myself) ...
which was meant to imply something along those lines. But possibly more diplomatically.
However, even if his Home Office pals are talking bølløx, that wouldn't prevent them tightening regulation (and the more enthusiastic enforcement of existing ones).
 
I wonder who his pals are in HO? as I now work for them and deliver training in that kind of thing you'd have thought I may have had a hint of this now being on the list :D
 
Seems unlikely, oxalic acid is about to be licenced as a varroacide in the US, and seeing as we seem to be the 53rd state we're bound to follow suit.
 
Brian, you raise various points.
100 varroa over 7 days isn't a massive drop after treatment. In the UK, Government advice is that 1000 mites in a full colony is something that needs immediate treatment.
When there is bee-brood around, varroa numbers can double in 3 to 4 weeks.

MAQS 'adequacy' - if you look back you'll see that you were advised that one MAQS strip (in late October, wasn't it?) should ensure that you didn't have a major varroa problem BEFORE midwinter Oxalic treatment.

The second thing to remember is that 2 MAQS strips has occasionally caused problems for some colonies - which might be due to colony strength, temperature, hive volume, ventilation or whatever. However, I don't recall anyone having problems with a single strip.
I'd say that the indication was that a single strip actually WAS perfectly adequate to tide you over until the midwinter heavy treatment with Oxalic.
I think it is best to practice "Integrated Pest Management" - treating as and when required to keep the varroa numbers down (rather than looking for something that will deal with the problem just once each year).
And, for IPM, MAQS offers a technique that can be used when there is honey on the hive, and, as in your case when a quick treatment is required and it is anyway getting late (cool) for a month of Thymol-based product treatment.
Next year, I hope you'll monitor the drops, and whatever else you may do, get a Thymol treatment on before it gets too late (and you'd be better to aim to get the Oxalic done before New Year rather than in late January).
MAQS, in my view, is a useful special-purpose treatment, only for use if circumstances dictate. (And I'd probably still advise a single-strip as the safe option for a "holding action".)


Thanks Itma, I fiound that really helpfull to summarise with regard to an IPM strategy for next, or should I say this year :)

Thanks again ! Very much appreciated ! Will monitor and treat as outlined above, great for me to get clarity from an overall perspective.
 
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The Little Bas***d's ... What a good feeling to know these guys anyway will not be feeding anytime soon ! :)
 

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... make Oxalic vaporising akin to hydroponic cultivation.
Not sure what you mean. Hydroponic kit is quite widely available over the counter. Far more widely advertised than it was even 10 years ago as far as I can see. There's actually nothing that you can't improvise with standard stuff from the garden centre and DIY shed, maybe not 100% as efficient but good enough for your winter lettuce.:)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hydroponics+shop
 

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