Large Varroa Drop

[Millet]

Is anyone else still getting a large number of mites dropping, around this time last year i was getting around 6 on the inspection tray, this year i'm getting around 100 every time i check the inspection tray weekly, i have vaped them three times now from the beginning of December but they just keep dropping, i'm surprised i have any bees left from the amount they have dropped up to now.

 

[drex]

When did you last vape?

 

[Eyeman]

Hi Millet
Did you treat them late summer/autumn?
I've 2 colonies that have dropped approx 100 mites after the third vape (one week ago) . I suspect they went into winter with high mite loads and still have brood around.
Not planning on opening them up to check!
Plan on repeating the vape in January.

 

[Millet]

When did you last vape?

Around 10 days ago for the 3rd vape, but each time i have checked they are still dropping a high amount, this time last year it had eased of by now.

 

[Millet]

Hi Millet
Did you treat them late summer/autumn?
I've 2 colonies that have dropped approx 100 mites after the third vape (one week ago) . I suspect they went into winter with high mite loads and still have brood around.
Not planning on opening them up to check!
Plan on repeating the vape in January.

Yes i did a Autumn treatment four times five days apart, i definitely will not open the hive up and as im sure there is no brood from the lack of wax capping on the inspection tray.
I will vape again next week if i still have a large drop.

 

[drex]

Personally I would leave it a bit. They will drop as a result of the last gassing for two weeks, so you are still seeing the effects of the last vape. Remember that the idea is to reduce the varroa load, you will not eradicate completely

 

[Millet]

Personally I would leave it a bit. They will drop as a result of the last gassing for two weeks, so you are still seeing the effects of the last vape. Remember that the idea is to reduce the varroa load, you will not eradicate completely

Thank you for that it will be a fortnight next week from the last Vaping, i know we can never totally eradicate the varroa but i will be happy if i can get the numbers down to the same as last year or there about.

 

[Eyeman]

Personally I would leave it a bit. They will drop as a result of the last gassing for two weeks, so you are still seeing the effects of the last vape. Remember that the idea is to reduce the varroa load, you will not eradicate completely

Without a reliable method this time of year of estimating colony mite numbers giving them another vape will tell you:
1. If they drop another 100 mites- you were justified in treating but it doesn't answer the question why are there still lots of mites in the hive when you reckon it is broodless?
2. If they drop a handful of mites- you can stop treating now and chalk this down as a learning experience for next year!

 

[sbisme]

It just shows location, strain, weather, beekeepers choice or just luck is right

I have three colonies all treated with Aplilife in Sept, and trickled a week ago as weather had been chilled for a few days, drop on all hives after trickling and inspection boards in for min 7 days no more than 7 mites max.

Same varroa control as last year so is tricking / vaping or Beekeepers choice the correct choice

 

[Beefriendly]

Millet, have you considered your vaping might not be working efficiently?

I've been hearing that most people are using the 2.25gm dosage that LASI research suggested knocked down 97% of mites.
I'm also hearing that sublimating beneath open mesh floors leaves a lot of OA crystals condensing on the mesh, which would mean that the bees are getting a less than ideal dosage. They are getting some vapor but maybe, just maybe, they are not getting enough OA vapour to hit the higher kill rates.

I always use more than the recommended dosage routinely when vaping and have seen no ill effects. The highest dosage LASI used for vaporization of OA was over 4 gms per hive and they reported no ill effects on the bees, except a couple of their hives ended up queenless, but this probably had nothing to do with the OA as one of their control hives also ended up queenless.

A suggestion, and that's all it is, might be to dribble them as they are pretty much clustered up these cold mornings. If you decided to dribble I wouldn't use a higher concentration of OA as that has been shown to kill bees.

 

[Etton]

Yes i did a Autumn treatment four times five days apart, i definitely will not open the hive up and as im sure there is no brood from the lack of wax capping on the inspection tray.
I will vape again next week if i still have a large drop.

Does lack of wax droppings also indicate not feeding, as presumably as they consume honey wax droppings also occur as with brood hatching?

 

[masterBK]

you should be able to tell whether it is bees emerging from sealed cells or whether sealed cells of stores are being opened up from the colour of the wax fragments

 

[Ely]

Are they living or dead mites that you are seeing on the inspection tray?

Mites can often be seen for weeks after a treatment on the inspection tray due to bees doing their general tidying up and knocking the odd dead mite down. I.E cleaning out cells that may contain the odd dead mite.

 

[Beefriendly]

Are they living or dead mites that you are seeing on the inspection tray?

Mites can often be seen for weeks after a treatment on the inspection tray due to bees doing their general tidying up and knocking the odd dead mite down. I.E cleaning out cells that may contain the odd dead mite.

The last few weeks have seen most nights dip into freezing around here, I don't think there is a a lot of cell cleaning going on...a lot of huddling together though.

 

[Millet]

Millet, have you considered your vaping might not be working efficiently?

I've been hearing that most people are using the 2.25gm dosage that LASI research suggested knocked down 97% of mites.
I'm also hearing that sublimating beneath open mesh floors leaves a lot of OA crystals condensing on the mesh, which would mean that the bees are getting a less than ideal dosage. They are getting some vapor but maybe, just maybe, they are not getting enough OA vapour to hit the higher kill rates.

I always use more than the recommended dosage routinely when vaping and have seen no ill effects. The highest dosage LASI used for vaporization of OA was over 4 gms per hive and they reported no ill effects on the bees, except a couple of their hives ended up queenless, but this probably had nothing to do with the OA as one of their control hives also ended up queenless.

A suggestion, and that's all it is, might be to dribble them as they are pretty much clustered up these cold mornings. If you decided to dribble I wouldn't use a higher concentration of OA as that has been shown to kill bees.

I use around 3grams to compensate for it crystallizing on the open mesh floor, however when looking underneath the hive very little sticks to the open mesh floor, maybe because the pan on the vaporizer is almost touching the mesh. ? .

 

[Millet]

Does lack of wax droppings also indicate not feeding, as presumably as they consume honey wax droppings also occur as with brood hatching?

Brood cappings are brown and stored food cappings are a lighter colour, if there is none of either on the inspection tray i would hazard a guess that there is no brood and they are not eating there stores if they have any left.

 

[Millet]

Are they living or dead mites that you are seeing on the inspection tray?

Mites can often be seen for weeks after a treatment on the inspection tray due to bees doing their general tidying up and knocking the odd dead mite down. I.E cleaning out cells that may contain the odd dead mite.

The mites are dead but the bees seem to be taking a long time to clear the cells if that is where the dead mites are laying, my hive is insulated with 50mm celotex all around and 100mm on the top so they will most likely be more active than and uninsulated hive so i would have thought they would clear the mites out pretty quick, when i next check on Saturday it will have been a fortnight since my last treatment, hopefully they will be very few mites on the inspection tray.

 

[Ely]

They won't be actively cleaning cells all at once and dead mites don't all fall out if the hive all at once. It's just that the dead mites will still be gradually falling down from the treatments, even if already dead (getting dislodged from wherever they snuffed it) Just carry on monitoring. It's probably just a bit of fallout still.

 

[Millet]

They won't be actively cleaning cells all at once and dead mites don't all fall out if the hive all at once. It's just that the dead mites will still be gradually falling down from the treatments, even if already dead (getting dislodged from wherever they snuffed it) Just carry on monitoring. It's probably just a bit of fallout still.

Thank you, i will hold back on another treatment until i check a week after my Saturday inspection, i panic at times but more so now as the Queen will be into her 3rd spring this year and i need to get new queens from her so i do not want anything going wrong.

 

[Ely]

Thank you, i will hold back on another treatment until i check a week after my Saturday inspection, i panic at times but more so now as the Queen will be into her 3rd spring this year and i need to get new queens from her so i do not want anything going wrong.

It is easy to worry but it sounds like you've done a fair few treatments already.