Gordon Stowe asks about the effectiveness of treating a 2 story hive by only
putting the strips in the second hive body instead of in both, because the
frames are stuck together with bridge comb.  He also asks about putting the
strips at the hive entrance.  I don't see a reply to his query on the list.
 
Answer:  The simple answer is "Follow the label!!!"  For proper treatment of
a colony (most of the bees are in the lower box in the fall) the strips must
be placed within the cluster of bees in a manner that will distribute the
chemical among the most bees.  Use one strip for each 5 combs of bees or
less.  I have witnessed beekeepers using only one or two strips, or one new
and one old strip, placing them in the top box because it was easy to get
to, and because they wanted to save some cash.  The result was that colonies
were only partially treated, and twice as many dead or 1/2 dead colonies
occurred as in those colonies where the proper number of new strips were
used.  I even saw a large number of mites (10 to 20) running around on the
bees and open brood in the lower box when only the top box was treated.
There were doubtless many more that I didn't see.  (I say didn't see because
in my hives I have never "seen" more than one mite in one hive all summer
long with careful looking, yet each fall I test each colony and find between
one and 1200 mites on a sticky board after 48 hours.)
 
Gordon, the replies you've received about burr comb are mostly accurate.
The equipment I see out here in Washington usually has a 1/4 inch space
above the frame top bars and 1/8 inch space below the frame bottom bars.
When two boxes of frames are stacked above each other a bee space results.
 
I sometimes see less or more of a bee space because the manufacturer has cut
the frame end bars too short or too long, or has cut the dado for the top or
bottom bars to shallow or too deep.
 
Follow the label when using any chemical on bees!  Putting the strips at the
hive entrance cuts the treating surface in 1/2, and the bees are only
momentarily in contact with the strip as the walk into the hive.  This
technique severely limits the amount of chemical available to treat mites
and will promote mite tolerance.  Some bees may not contact the strip at all
because they go up the inside of the front wall of the hive.  Only placing
the strips among the bees per the label will provide the proper dosage of
Fluvalinate.
 
If you have trouble with bridge and ladder comb, correct the bee space,
provide enough room for the colony during the honey flow, or recognize that
individual colonies build more burr comb than others in the fall to control
air movement in the hive.  The solution is to scrape each brood box, frame,
and the frame rabbits once each year, usually in the spring, to remove burr
comb and propolis.  If you work the brood nest several times in the spring
and early summer, I think that you will see less burr comb deposited by the
bees.  Observation suggests that let-alone beekeeping results in a lot of
burr comb.
 
When placing the strips in a hive, insert your hive tool between the end
bars of two frames within the cluster, on opposite corners of the hive body
and spread the frames.  Hang the strips between these frames, within the
cluster of bees, so that the bees can walk around the strips.  After
removing the strips in 42 to 56 days, use a hive tool to push the frame end
bars together again.
 
James C. Bach
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