Treatment

[donaldb7340]

My bees didn't cluster this winter so I was unable to use oxalic treatment. I used thymol in August/September but wondered what people are using now (if any) to treat for varroa. All thoughts welcome!


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[Tom Bick]

I will first monitor the drop over a 4 week period before the ants become active to get an idea what the loading is. If I consider it to be high I will have lactic acid, shook swarm, drone cull available also and have not tried it but Finman often mentioned it AS treat and then reunite, requires more time but you don't sacrifice the brood.

Just to add I don't expect the load to be high and have always managed just fine without oxalic but there is always a first time.

 

[sharonh]

My bees didn't cluster this winter so I was unable to use oxalic treatment. I used thymol in August/September but wondered what people are using now (if any) to treat for varroa. All thoughts welcome!


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Hi,
I used apiguard last Aug. I monitored mite drop during winter months here & there, but they were very low with count. I didn't bother then even thinking about oxalic.
What I will do during the season from May is sugar dust them on inspections with icing sugar. Keeps them grooming.
If your mite count is high and you
want to treat, you can treat with Apistan / Bayvoral from march until may.
Regards
Sharon

 

[beeno]

Hi Tom,
I assume Finman's treatment goes like this AS swarm and treat this part, leave brood to emerge in other part then treat this and reunite. However, if you had to treat in those circumstances then the brood would be no good anyhow? Most people would just use MQS now which I understand to be lactic acid. I am obviously missing a trick.

 

[oliver90owner]

I am obviously missing a trick

More than one!

If varroa loading is that high they may never get to swarming point. What you treat with would have a bearing on what was required and by your definition there would be no brood. The idea is to kill mites, after all. Why it would be no good, beats me, too. Varroa do not make all brood no good unless the colony is about to collapse. Needs some thought to understand all the points I think, or some understanding to think of all the points.

What is MQS? You might mean something else which is not lactic acid.

 

[oliver90owner]

you can treat with Apistan / Bayvoral from march until may

Another sweeping statement that definitely requires qualification. Neither of those treatments should be used during a flow, or more accurately - while a honey crop is in the hive. It is a definite no-no if in the middle of the OSR flow, per eg.

There are plenty of other alternatives without using products that may cause insecticide resistance in the target pest. Bad news using either of those chemicals unless in an emergency situation, IMO. Others may not care, it seems, or don't know.

 

[Hivemaker.]

What i would do...OAV if needed, or vertical AS if a bit later, and two 48 hour treatments with thymol pads or OAV after all brood had emerged, but unlikely to be any problems if autumn treatment was effective, and no re invasion, in fact i have only ever needed to do spring treatments once, and that was spring 2002 when i needed to do quite a few of them.

 

[davnig]

Hi Tom,
I assume Finman's treatment goes like this AS swarm and treat this part, leave brood to emerge in other part then treat this and reunite. However, if you had to treat in those circumstances then the brood would be no good anyhow? Most people would just use MQS now which I understand to be lactic acid. I am obviously missing a trick.

If you mean MAQS it's formic not lactic based

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Monitor then decide whether to treat. Check with the beebase varroa calculator.

 

[mbc]

you can treat with Apistan / Bayvoral from march until may

Another sweeping statement that definitely requires qualification. Neither of those treatments should be used during a flow, or more accurately - while a honey crop is in the hive. It is a definite no-no if in the middle of the OSR flow, per eg.

There are plenty of other alternatives without using products that may cause insecticide resistance in the target pest. Bad news using either of those chemicals unless in an emergency situation, IMO. Others may not care, it seems, or don't know.

100%

Its also worth noting that with either apistan or bayvarol the combs in the hive at the time of treatment will be forever more be contaminated with fluvalinate(the active ingredient).