Peter wrote:  .... If this would work...

I think that there are ways to make it work--and not through negligence.

Disruption of major life processes of pests, diseases & vectoring  
situations can eliminate many of the issues dealt with by chemical  
treatments.  There is a time cost and I doubt all these classic  
cultural control mechanisms can be practiced by all commercial  
models.  I have been working out a mix of techniques that are helping  
my operation.  I'm a building sideliner--5 barrels/year now with a  
good retail market for honey, candle, & other value added products.   
The other half of my honey is sold wholesale.

I'm in my 5thish year of working out details of not using prophylactic  
chemical treatments in my hives and at least 10 years of thinking  
about it.  I work extensively with IPM (day job) and do not mind chems  
& I have dusted with tetracycline for suspicious foulbrood conditions  
with destruction of colonies & removal & destruction of suspicious  
frames.  I feed sugar solution & use pollen patties during extreme dry  
August and/or prior to this winter based on need.

 From my perspective breeding for mite resistance is perhaps our first  
line of defense.   I rely on the work of others for my base stock.   
Though I have not purchased a queen in four years.  Our club has  
started a queen swap-- best of the best from around the region in  
hopes of providing some intra-regional diversity.

I select for & raising queens from my best hives--low mites, good  
production, winter well & have a reasonable demeanor. I re-queen  
yearly with cells.--The broodless period this creates is helpful in  
breaking mite production cycle. I try to do raise queens & make splits  
mid-July after the Basswood flow.  I carry my strong colonies trough  
the spring --for spring honey production.  I do loose swarms.  --This  
still needs some fine tuning.

Sugar dusting helps. It knocks down a small proportion of mites from  
each repeated treatment which keeps the mite populations from exploding.

Drone trapping --but only two frames per hive (to hard to dig out the  
bottom two from a strong hive).  I also have taken to scraping down  
the frames rather than allow hives to clean the dead drone pupae out.-- 
I believe that worker removal of parasitized & potentially virus/ 
disease infected drone larvae may spread virus or disease.
Scrapings are disposed of carefully so bees cannot forage on the  
remains.

I make midsummer splits ((after Basswood) which are my nucs for the  
following year.  I break up poor colonies--poor and old frames are  
culled at this time.

An apiary is treated as a multi-queen hive.  A problem found in one  
hive may signal the same problem in other hives at that same site.

In my area we have a strong August dearth.  Caging queens during this  
period  (14 days--followed by a quick feed (substitute & sugar soln)  
is showing promise in disrupting that rapid rise in mite numbers in  
the fall.  I can still harvest the goldenrod flow--which can be half  
our honey volume/year whereas many are pulling honey & treating to  
prevent mite explosion & hive collapse.

I look with interest at a formic acid flash treatments during this  
dearth period but a registered form of this needs to be available first.

I feed, if hives need (not every year)  & wrap for winter  (always).

I'm still experiencing winter losses but percentages are improving  
( or I've had a few lucky winters) --but am restocking with my own  
nucs prepared the prior summer.

  Once I shag my day job I will further expand.  My business model  
will probably lead me to a couple hundred hives at most continuing  
with a half wholesale & half retail market.

So I'm thinking that IPM/reduced reliance on chems can be accomplished  
in my business model, though chems will probably be an emergency tool  
in times of need (only) not prophylactically applied

I'm still undecided about what I need to do about N. ceranae.  My hive  
with the largest Nosema counts was my most productive this past year  
and went into winter looking great.  Mixed reviews as to best  
treatments adds to my reluctance to treat.

Reliance on cultural activities that disrupt  cycles of the vectors  
ability to reproduce,  reduction of virus & disease levels in the  
apiary and nutrition assistance as needed, with a dash of registered  
treatments as needed- are working for me YMMV.

Mike Griggs
Entomologist/ Support Scientist
Biological Integrated Pest Management Research Unit
USDA ARS, Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health
Tower Road, Ithaca, NY  14853
http://www.ars.usda.gov/naa/ithaca/BioIPM

phone:  607-255-1085
fax:        607-255-1132
email:    [log in to unmask]





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