At 02:23 PM 6/25/98 -0400, you wrote:
 
>When checking the brood chamber of the smaller hive I noticed numerous
>little mites running about on top of the frames. Now I am not sure what
>kind of mites these are or if they even effect the bees. I don't think
>the smaller hive will produce any honey this year but the larger hive is
>producing honey now.
 
Hi Greg,
 
Sometimes in a weak hive other mites and other insects will be noticed when
the hive is first opened after a long period of (beenign neglect). Most all
the mites found in bee hives are light sensitive and will scurry for cover
when exposed to the light of day. If the mites are pin head sized, reddish
brown, and oval in shape they may be varroa mites. To make sure you could
check to see if you can find some attached to the bees themselves and on
the pupa of any drone brood between the supers, (if any).
 
> My question is should I do some kind of mite
>treatment now ? If so what can I use during the honey flow.
 
If you do not intend to use the honey, other then to feed that hive, from
the smaller hive you could treat it at any time using the recommended
number of strips and length of time. I would reduce it to a single, if
possible, and use the number of strips recommended.
 
I would warn that if the hive is already weak because of a old or failing
queen, and has mites, it could be more economical to rebuild the hive with
a nuc or divide and a young queen after destroying the old bees and queen
and putting the original hive and frames in storage for a length of time so
that all mites are dead. Thirty days is reasonable and seven will do the
job for most hives. Sounds extreme but I am talking economics knowing full
well that some would spend a $1,000. on health care for a stray cat because
they have money and love cats, and I would not.
 
From the bigger hive I assume you are planing on using the honey, you
should wait to treat until you have removed the honey if you intend to
treat it. This not only reduces the far out chance that you will get
harmful chemicals in the honey but will reduce the area that needs to be
treated and increase the effectives of the treatment and reduce the costs.
 
If you are NOT going to consume the honey, I still would remove the honey
before treatment.
 
I would add that if the hive is in all other respects "healthy" and has
survived with a low level of mite infestation or no visual mites I would
consider NOT treating it at all. IMHO: Prophylactic treatments for mites is
a waste of money and may be the good bee farming practice as preached by
the majority and the chemical dusty's but only gets you a seat on the
pesticide merry-go-around like most every other farmer. You will not be
alone!
 
You may be wondering how come the smaller hive has Varroa mites or more
mites then the larger hive?
 
All hives that have mites if they collapse for any reason will have more
mites at the end then at the beginning of the collapse. So a 2nd swarm with
less and maybe older bees would have more mites then a prime swarm. No
different then a flattened cat that does not die right away, when it does
die depending on the length of time it lingers on, it will have a
population of flea's that anyone who does not know its history prior to its
death will say the flea's surely killed that flat cat when you and I know
it died because of the Mac truck that made it a flat cat in the first
place. Treatment of the cats flea's will reduce their numbers  to zero but
will not overcome the fact that the flat cat is going to die sooner then
later.
 
The state of the art is such that it is not know how many mites per 100 or
1,000 bees should be a treatment level. It has never been demonstrated that
adding any number of varroa mites to a healthy hive has any dramatic effect
on that hive. And because all honeybees have several defence mechanisms
against mites some could be afflicted less then others, or not at all.
 
The "rule" in beekeeping is "that for every rule there is an exception".
 
As for the treatment of bees for Varroa mites  I believe that the majority
of beekeepers in the US have been stuck on the pesticide merry-go-around
and will not easily find a way off  because their government regulators do
not believe they are mature enough to use any farm chemicals reasonably and
has collaborated with the chemical industry to keep them hooked on
chemicals by forcing them to use a few products that do not work as
advertised and are inflated in price by 1000x above what they should cost.
Others say its the "American" Way,.. *(because of our censors I have
removed the short graphic description of what the "American" Way really has
become.)*, but if you get em down you stick it too em, and if you can pay
your government to protect you in doing it, you can charge em any amount
for the pleasure you get from doing it to them. Thats the new "American"
way...today its called "value added".
 
My hope that a few so called "hobby" beekeepers will follow a different
road and resist using chemicals at all no matter what any good bee
regulator or bee doctor tells you. (If its the LAW I advise all to follow
it.)
 
My gut feeling is it will be years before the commercial bee industry wakes
up and does the same even if the last Varroa mite on earth was to have
disappeared or all bee hives were full and healthy.
 
Good Luck,
 
ttul, the OLd Drone
http://beenet.com
 
 
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