> I was comforted as I haven't treated for varroa in some 6 years as many
> of you know. Most of those around me have as far as I know.
I'm curious if you ever measure varroa in your hives? I'd be curious to
know what kind of counts your hives carry without having problems.
I understand that you have been selecting stock and gather that is part of
the reason you are successful, but I was influenced by all the talk of not
treating on some venues and thought that 1.) since I have been acquiring
stock which is supposedly somewhat varroa tolerant, and 2.) since I have
been splitting drastically, that I should be able to get away with just an
oxalic drizzle each fall.
Last year I did, and levels were reasonably low, but I just did some counts
yesterday and was quite shocked to see a count over 20% in one hive and
levels over 10% in two others. I'm also seeing some PMS. At that point I
quit testing and decided to get some strips.
I had a similar experience with not treating for AFB. Even if hives did not
break down, I was seeing spotty patterns. A touch of medication changed
that in a heartbeat.
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