On 23-Apr-12, at 8:38 AM, Karen Thurlow-Kimball wrote:
> We had such a mild winter that many people are having spring mite
> problems
> which is not the usual for Maine. Usually the brood-less period
> over the
> winter reduces the mite load and we do not see a spring problem.
Hi Karen and all
Because of our mild winter I expected to have high mite levels by
now. I have never used MAQS but have used formic acid for many
years. I have never treated with formic in the spring because it
kills brood is hard on queens and, according to a local researcher,
sterilizes drones at a time we are trying to build colony strength.
I have attached a post I sent to our local association members
encouraging them to check before treating
Hi All
My three strongest hives are doubles and are boiling in bees. One
was a nuc in 2009(P8), another a nuc in 2010(P2) and the third a
swarm I brought home in 2010(R6B). All are on screened bottom boards
open to the ground, the first two were left open all winter whereas
the third was closed with styrofoam. I do 24 hour varroa drops every
2 weeks all summer and normally don't start until June because there
are never any mites to count. This year, because of the mild weather
resulting in lots of early brood, I did my first counts today
expecting high numbers of mites.
Apr 20/12 - P2 - 1 mite / 24 hours, P8 - 0 mites / 24 hours, R6B - 4
mites / 24 hours
As a result of these low mite counts, I will not be treating for
varroa this spring, unless the next count in 2 weeks is considerably
higher.
Last summer the mite counts were low, likely caused, in part, by the
late spring
Aug 30/11 - P2 - 1 mite / 48 hours, P8 - 0 mites / 48 hours, R6B - 3
mites / 48 hours
Sep 20/11 - P2 - 2 mites / 48 hours, P8 - 3 mites / 48 hours, R6B - 4
mites / 48 hours
I did not use my normal formic acid mitewipe varroa treatment last
autumn as a result of the low counts. I did, however, treat with
oxalic acid in late November and counted the mites dropping afterwards.
Nov 30/11 - P2 - 115 mites / 68 hours, P8 - 41 mites / 68 hours, R6B
- 111 mites / 68 hours
These counts seem high but are really quite low and show how
effective the oxalic treatment is, in spite of there being no other
varroa treatments all year.
I still expect varroa levels to rise this year and plan to treat as
early in August as I can get the July honey off
Bob Darrell
Caledon Ontario
Canada
44N80W snowing here today
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