Stratiolaelaps scimitus

From another group but thought it may be of interest:
Personally I have the usual fears about introducing a new species but understand a UK beek is already testing
I for one would be interested to hear how Stratiolaelaps scimitus are doing in UK?

http://www.niagarabeeway.com/bio-control-for-varroa-mite.html


http://www.niagarabeeway.com/july-9-2013-update-on-the-varroa-mite.html


S

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It would be interesting to know what the side effects are once the varroa is cleaned out of the hive. What temperature are required for them to survive

Very interesting and hope it works out ok

Interesting, here are a couple of previous threads about this.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=23076&highlight=Stratiolaelaps


http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17118&highlight=Stratiolaelaps

Thanks Hivemaker, I missed the previous threads. Having looked at the Defenders website the mites are readily available http://www.defenders.co.uk/pest-solutions/biological-sciarid-fly-control.html for £12.95
This would make a great research project, I wonder why no one has considered it?
Must admit I am tempted to try them on a couple of hives just to see how they compare!
S

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Very very interesting, thanks.

I have been following the predatory mite ( and nematode) route of Varroa control for some years.... pseudo scorpians etc etc... however I wonder if the bigpestco conspiracy theory is holding research back?
A quote from the Beesource site ..........

from a commercial point of view, this mite usually works in a single application, providing persistent control, so, all we are really going to be doing is taking millions of dollars away from the chemical industry, which is probably why we run into such interesting roadblocks.

Some may accuse this as trolling.. but my thoughts are the more beekeepers who are aware of how our chemical/pesticide industries are merely fiscally driven the better !

icanhopit said:

I have been following the predatory mite ( and nematode) route of Varroa control for some years.... pseudo scorpians etc etc... however I wonder if the bigpestco conspiracy theory is holding research back?
A quote from the Beesource site ..........

from a commercial point of view, this mite usually works in a single application, providing persistent control, so, all we are really going to be doing is taking millions of dollars away from the chemical industry, which is probably why we run into such interesting roadblocks.

Some may accuse this as trolling.. but my thoughts are the more beekeepers who are aware of how our chemical/pesticide industries are merely fiscally driven the better !

Click to expand...

I think you're hoping there, it's probably not a conspiracy. The fact is that biological control is neither simple nor straightforward. There is a headstart with this one in that the predator is already cleared for release in the uk, but that still leaves a lot of hurdles.

Firstly, this is a soil dweller. It may have a behaviour that will allow it to move upwards, but there's no reason to asume it will. There has been some talk of installing litter trays in the bottom of hives where they can live and eat fallen mites- but why not just have an OMF?

In the buckfast trials they were being re-applied monthly, sprinkled on like icing sugar, presumably to intercept phoretic mites on their way to the bottom. Bear in mind they are supplied in peat, so you are basically sprinkling dirt over the brood frames. If they do need to be applied monthly, this clearly has cost implications and a regular big job for the housekeeper bees.

I noticed in the video there was mention of them being used for vine weevil. A vine weevil larva is not very different from a bee larva. It would be ironic if it turned out that this was merely introducing another pest for the bees to cope with.

Don't get me wrong- I'd be delighted if this turned out to be a better solution than those we have already, but the practice in these matters usually turns out to be a lot more difficult than the theory- one reason why we don't all have hygeinic bees.


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There's a long (but still current) thread running over here ... lots of things going on with Ss (sorry ...Stratiolaelaps) but it's still in its early stages and clear information is difficult to come by. There's a few beekeepers who have tried it with some mixed success ... but like all things new .. hard evidence of its efficacy is a bit thin on the ground.

The ones who claim success from it appear to be introducing the Ss into the hive by sprinkling it (and the medium it is shipped in) onto the top bars and let it percolate down through the combs. It appears to attack both phoretic mites and those in the cells ..which pre-supposes that it follows its prey into the cell when the Varroa mite heads in that direction.

If there are no varroa for it to feed on then it is capable of feeding off other organic debris but it is, primarily, a soil dweller so I would assume that it returns to the soil rather than stay in the hive. I think the deep litter floor (a la Phil Chandler) is intended to keep them in the hive ... but whether they would predate back up to the combs is not yet established.

I've been watching the progress of this 'research' for some time but I don't think it's the silver bullet yet ... but it has got promise:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?278433-Stratiolaelaps-A-bug-to-Fight-Varroa/page4

well worth keeping an eye on

leave no stone unturned when reaserching such things I for one won't be adding another mite into a hive of mine......yet