I hope everyone had a nice Holiday last week, and I
hope everyone has another nice Holiday this week.
(I think every week should include one day dedicated
to feasting, parties, good cheer, and gift-giving!)


Allen had some good points, and while the title
of his post is strictly accurate, I think that
the "M" in "IPM" should have stood for "metrics".

Without metrics (measurement, records, numbers)
one cannot "manage" anything, and really can't
even differentiate between:

  > In my case, I never had enough mites in
  > the fall to do serious damage.

and:

  > Others may be overrun.

One beekeeper's "overrun" may be another's
"no big hairy deal".  (Not to pick on poor
Allen, as he has said that he does measure
and keep records.)

But I don't really care what the mite level is
in the late fall when brood rearing has stopped.
By then, the mites will have done their damage.

What I care about is the DELTA in "natural" mite
drop between weekly readings during June and July.

If I start to see mites get out of hand, I have to
treat, which, at present in the USA, means taking
the colony out of production.  Treatments coming
soon to a bee supply dealer near you may allow
beekeepers to modify this strategy.

I hope.

I think that it >>>IS<<< very nice to be able to
treat with oxalic acid, and kill off mites in
late fall.  But all this means is that I can
expect a slower and later ramp-up of varroa
populations in the spring and early summer, or
perhaps no varroa problem at all, given my
relative isolation from other apiaries.

That said, I can't use Oxalic Acid.  It is not
approved in the USA just yet.  I sell my honey,
so I have to stick with the approved methods.
(That said, I did try powdered sugar for a season,
as it was clearly a "food grade" item.)

But fall treatments alone will not "save" a colony.
Saving colonies means following a standard mite-drop
tracking protocol starting in early June, which for
me means a count of 48-hour "natural fall".

I've said it before:

   One cannot control what they do not measure.


    jim (There are 10 types of people in the world.
      Those who read binary and those who don't.)

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