"Jorn Johanesson" wrote:
> Deformed wing Virus, have to do with varroa infection and bites, and not
> with use of ocalic acid!

Jorn
Perhaps you did not read the report?
The whole point is that oxalic treatment is not very effective until there
is little or no brood and, by delaying treatment until then, the young bees
that we need to overwinter will have been infested with varroa.
The average lifespan of a bee with DWV is 88 days - so these bees (and
therefore the colony) will not survive the winter.
It is, therefore, essential to reduce varroa numbers before winter bees are
reduced - in the UK this means treating as soon as the crop is removed in
early august.  This is easily done with thymol crystals, which are very
cheap (32p per colony for 4 x weekly treatments) and give good results at
that time.
If needed, oxalic can then be used later, say November, although I have not
found this to be necessary.

Happy New Year to all

Peter Edwards
[log in to unmask]
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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