REGARDING           Apistan timing
 
Joel Govostes writes:
"What's the big deal about getting the strips in now??  Sorry, but I just
don't get it.  Get your fall flow and super well so they won't swarm.  If
they do, it's likely the parent colonies won't be in very good shape going
into winter.  And neither will the swarms, of course.
 
The ideal time to treat, as I understand it, is when there is little or no
brood; then all the mites are gravitating to adult bees, instead of being
hidden in capped brood cells.  SO, that means October, maybe into November
around here, while the bees are still somewhat active."
 
This was my philosphy too, last year, before I lost most of my bees to Varroa.
 We generally get a good fall flow in southeastern Michigan, and my hive
population is *way* up after removing summer supers.  However, I learned (by
the best teacher) that when the colony stops producing drones (basically right
now) that the varroa mite then goes into the worker cells, the very workers
which should be the ones to provide the winter cluster bees.  When these
workers are decimated, there is no hope for the colony.
 
Therefore, my present practice is to give up the fall flow in order to save
the hive.  I try to put in the Apistan strips as soon as the summer supers are
removed.
 
Incidentally, I am harvesting my summer flow now, and am getting up to 160 lbs
per colony (average=126 lbs) from new package colonies (single queen).  Ever
since the mites killed off the feral bees, I have had record yields.  Is this
the case elsewhere?
 
Ted Fischer