On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:09:28 -0500, Bob Harrison  wrote:


>center of the top of the second box Mike?

true, I put it in the center of the second box if the third box has only 
honey, if alot of brood in third box then I put it on third box.
>
>I am a week later treating than last year.
I'm treating at the same time but the weather is cooler this year.


>We are getting a strong goldenrod flow now. Bees are all over the bloom 
and you can smell the nectar when in the yard. 

since our golden rod is done, I'm guessing you have a different variety.  
Did you ever consider collecting the seeds and selling them to us 
northerners, with the climate change and all we could go another couple of 
weeks b/4 pulling our supras, I don't think my back could take it.
  
>What are other BEE-L members bees looking like?
  Many hives here are in excelent shape, mite counts are higher than the 
last three years, almost no early swarms, but we only had one week without 
rain(bass wood) until golden rod came in, all the swarms happened in Aug-
sept, similar to two years ago and everyone lost many hive.  but the flow 
was better this year than two years ago so we will see.
  I also received the following from mite-way II

I have heard of all of the following requirements except:minimum colony 
size six full frames of bees for the cluster. If my hives are heavy they 
may be down to six frames but I never really checked.



below is a response I sent to Bee-L last Monday.  For some reason it was 
not posted, even though I received the automated "received" notice.  



> From: David Vander Dussen    
> Subject: Re: [BEE-L] mite-way II
> Hi Mike;
> 
> The MAII formula has not changed.  Just a few comments:
> 
> I am presuming that you have followed the label: bottom
> entrance fully open, inch and a half spacer rim on the brood
> chamber, MAII pad up on half inch sticks set on the top
> bars, holes are facing down, maximum hive size double brood
> chamber standard Langstroth supers, minimum colony size six
> full frames of bees for the cluster.
> 
> I am also presuming that you treated in the spring so the
> varroa mites didn't get above threshold.  If not, check
> out the "Save Your Bees" treatment program,
> available free by request off the website www.miteaway.com,
> for developing a treatment program.  
> 
> What you are seeing does not sound out of the ordinary for
> the start of a Mite-AwayII treatment, unless the bee loss is
> more than a couple of cups.  Then other stresses are likely
> to be in play.  Formic acid vapors are being used to kill
> mites, a living thing, and bees under stress can be
> impacted, especially if the varroa levels got above
> treatment threshold (3,200 mites).  Are these mostly drones,
> workers, mite damaged brood/young bees being ejected, or a
> mix? 
> 
> For our registration we had to document effects to the
> environment.  Vegetation browning within 6 to 8 inches of
> the entrance is normal.  I'm surprised this wasn't
> noticed before.  Usually the plants are not killed and will
> be putting up new top growth shortly.
> 
> Every container of MAII has a production code number on it
> - look for the sticker between the pail ridges.  The formic
> acid used to manufacture MAII is run in 26,000 kg batches,
> (57,320 lbs.) each batch is independently certified by an
> outside lab before it is brought on stream.
> 
> From your email you treated on Wednesday, September 10th. 
> Feed now for winter if you haven't yet, in a way that
> won't interfere with the MAII application (Miller
> feeder, through a lid feeder hole or inner cover with a
> pail, open barrel method, etc,).  If there is any nectar
> flow on at the time the bees will ignore the feed but will
> get into it when the flow shuts off.  Check the colony on
> October 10th.  What you will see is clean hatching brood for
> the winter cluster, the queen will probably still be laying
> and you can look forward to healthy hives come spring.  
> 
> Treatment with MAII can look different from other treatment
> methods.  Formic acid is a cleanser, killing bacteria.  It
> is commonly used to de-stone medical equipment in a 10%
> concentration.  It is also used agriculturally to preserve
> calf feed at room temperature for 3 to four days for demand
> feeding systems. 
> 
> Bees can take higher levels of formic vapor than the mites,
> both varroa and tracheal, which is why it can be used as a
> mite control product.  MAII is the safest and most effective
> way to apply formic acid.  There is often some initial brood
> loss as it says on the label, usually less than three days
> and just the youngest larva and eggs so there has been very
> little investment by the bees.  This is one of the trade
> offs to get an effective treatment.  The MAII chemistry was
> developed and many applications were tested before bringing
> MAII to the market place.  The bottom line was that it had
> to work to control mites with minimum damage to the
> colonies, no residues in the hive or the honey.  We are
> proud of the result.
> 
> yours truly,
> David VanderDussen
> NOD Apiary Products
> 
> 

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