I’m intrigued by some of the posts on MAQS, and am wondering if my experience is an anomaly. First, I should say that I was a long-time user of the Miteaway II product and had very good results, if applied during recommended temperatures. Can’t say I ever had a bad experience, even on the upper end of the temperature range. Mite control was good, and never lost a queen to my knowledge, so I had good experiences with the product and trust in the manufacturer.
I picked up the last bucket available at EAS, and tested it in early August when I returned on 5 singles and 1 double with 1 honey super on each. Temps were at the upper limit of the product’s application recommendations (90-92 degrees) when I applied the 2 strips, but felt good about my previous experience with the manufacturer. Returned the next day to check on the colonies, and found that all had huge adult bee losses…literally piles of bees in front of the hives, so pulled the strips from the colonies, with the exception of the double. All queens survived. I was surprised by what had happened, since I had never seen adult bee loss with the Miteaway II pad…sure, colonies’ brood rearing would be set back for 3-4 days, but I figured it was the cost for mite control, and wintering success was very good (85-90%).
Fast forward to September, with a two-strip application, when daytime temps were between 72 and 78. Took a look at the first two singles in a yard with honey supers on 14 days after application, and found emergency queen cells in both, with 1-2 virgins already emerged. All hives in that yard had a noticeable loss of bees, while on a super flow (tail end of purple loosestrife and goldenrod in full bloom). In another yard, two singles, side by side of equal strength before the application, one had hardly any bees 4 days later, with many dead bees and dead larvae on the bottom board, while the other one was loaded with bees; presumably migrated from the first colony.
I followed the manufacturer’s instructions of using 2 strips, with full ventilation and had an upper entrance on all colonies, plus entrances in most of the honey supers. At EAS, Nod Apiaries insisted that 2 strips had to be used for full control, but that it could be used successfully on colonies as small as 6 frames. Did I get a bad batch, or is the recommendation of 2 strips off? I remember reading that during testing, there were several different dosages being tested, but figured that they got it right.
Searching through past emails, I see that Randy Oliver had good control with just one strip.
I’ve been keeping bees for 36 years, and thought I had seen pretty much everything a sideliner could see, but would appreciate hearing about other people’s experience with the product.
Thanks,
David Blocher
Redding CT
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