First- Ghislain's post is about trickle and not vapor so is appreciated but
not applicable.


> I am interested whether you were able to get a drop count for the last
> treatment?
>

I decided not to do so. Did not want to open up the hive entrance and allow
mice too easy an entrance.

>
> Do your colonies have open brood yet and are you concerned about using OAV
> if so?  I found mine very late to start brood rearing this spring due to
> the cold weather, several had no brood at all on May 2 (hives are
> insulated).
>

Mine are not insulated- never have- and they had brood when I treated.

>
> There was a discussion back in March regarding OAV and open brood but only
> anecdotal information surfaced regarding adverse effects.
>

Mine can only be anecdotal also since I can only report what I have never
seen, which is either dead bees or brood in front of any hive I have
treated with OAV. I put carpet in front of each hive since it gives me an
immediate look at what they are dumping out the entrance. After a MAQS
there were dead bee and larva on the carpets, and I usually saw them every
time I used the MAQS. When I used to use dri-loc pads with 65% formic there
was never that carnage.

I am a very happy camper with the OAV. There may be dragons over the
horizon, but right now it is smooth sailing.

An aside. A friend in northern Maine helped a large group of Beekeepers in
his Chapter of the Maine State Beekeepers and convinced them all to use OAV
and had no losses this winter. That is unusual for Maine. But if they all
used it, then the chance of a mite bomb is greatly reduced and the results
could be expected.

I have been circumspect in really pushing it until I had a full winter
under my belt, so now I am very enthusiastic. Where I see trouble is late
in the year and mite bombs become available and the beekeepers fail to spot
them and do not treat again. That happened locally to an OAV user who could
not figure out where all the mites came from.His late treatment was well
after the bombs but well before the queen stopped laying.I caught the mite
bomb, treated it, and treated very late.

For a hobby beekeeper I strongly recommend paying the $100 + and treating
with OAV. The cost is less than a package in spring. Classic penny wise and
pound foolish.

Plus, if you use a sticky board after the treatment, you get great mite
data without having to go back in for an alcohol wash, which, compared to
the OAV treatment, gives much less accurate data, disrupts the hive, and
kills a bunch of bees.

BTW- my sticky board is an 88 cent Walmart aluminum cookie tray, painted
white, the lip cut off at the end (so it can clean out any debris when
shoved into the hive- great for an after winter quick clean), some hardware
cloth propped up by two Popsicle sticks so the bees cannot reach the
dropped mites, and greased with Crisco. I carry a magnifier (goes on your
forehead with two different magnifications- got it on Amazon) out to the
hives so I can get a reading every day if I decide to leave them on for
several days.Otherwise I just bring them inside. I have one for every hive.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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