> Last year I used two MAQS on most of my colonies in August, temps in the
> high 80s, and had some serious bee losses in about 15-20% of my colonies,
> and overall had about 15% queen loss.  I will never use two MAQS
> simultaneously again.
>

I have experienced this sort of high loss with expired/broken down product
but not with product in good condition.  I generally only use a 2 strip
treatment when there is at least one super on.  I have noticed that
treating a colony (with either 1 or 2 strips) mid-supercedure (a common
occurrence in early August in my area) often results in a queenless
colony.  I think this is some of what is commonly reported as "queen loss"
- which I guess it functionally is.

I prefer to treat with a single strip 10-14 days apart when possible, but
it is important to remember that when the bees are on the falling side of
the build-up curve (with mites per bee on the exponential upward curve),
two 70% effective sequential treatments can be less effective than a single
90+% effective treatment.  I find that in August and September here, a
single strip MAQS treatment will hold the mite level, but not effectively
reduce it.

Adam
Barrie, ON

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