Mike Bipsham wrote:
 
> Here in the UK varroa is now endemic.  As an  ecologically  minded
> hobby  beekeeper,  I am unsure if I want to continue beekeeping if
> it means having to treat the hives with insecticide.  Does  anyone
> know of alternative treatments?
 
    Please Note:  I  posted  recently  about  some  'soft'
    chemicals  we  are  using.  Someone asked me to expand
    more.  I'm unable to add very much  and  we're  'just'
    beekeepers  not  a  research  establishment, however I
    shall report what I can.   Gordon
 
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IBRA ([log in to unmask]) supply an  information  pack  on  Varroa
that makes good & useful reading.
 
Most of the alternative methodologies are fairly labour  intensive
but  feasible.  IMHO the main alternatives are:
 
    1) Drone Trapping.
 
    Divide a frame into three sections, fit  a  starter  strip  of
    foundation  and place this near the outside of the brood nest.
    The bees will (probably :-) draw drone comb on this (which  is
    what  we  want).  Varroa prefer to lay in drone comb so we can
    cut these sections out in rotation (one per  week)  whilst  we
    find  a  significant  infestation.  Makes a significant energy
    loss for the colony as they put a lot of work into the  drones
    we kill.
 
    2) Trapped Queen.
 
    Trap the queen onto a (preferably unused) frame using a  frame
    sized  cage  of QX material to trap her on that frame.  A week
    later transfer her onto another similar frame and do it again.
    A  week  later  do it again, then remove and destroy the first
    comb which by now will be sealed.  A week  later  release  the
    queen  and  destroy  comb  two, in the final week destroy comb
    three.  A powerful method because the mites have no choice but
    to  lay  in  the trapped frames.  Knocks the colony back a bit
    though.
 
    3) 'Soft' Chemicals.
 
    Debatable what's 'soft'.  Formic acid is  the  'usual'  stuff.
    It's  a  natural and degradable pesticide used by ants.  It is
    however pretty nasty stuff  for  us.   Handle  with  _extreme_
    care.   Lactic acid (naturally from milk) is used in a lighter
    concentration (5% sprayed lightly onto the bees &  combs)  and
    is  supposed  to  work  in  a  similar but less risky way than
    Formic.  I do know that it knocks down quite a lot  of  mites.
    Our   Association   here   (Basingstoke  UK)  have  also  been
    experimenting with icing sugar or french chalk dusted onto the
    bees  & combs.  The function of these is supposed to be purely
    mechanical -- it gets onto the sticky pads on the feet of  the
    mites,  they lose their grip and slip off.  I've looked pretty
    closely at quite a few and I think it's true because I can see
    eight  white  feet.  It seems likely that vigourous fanning by
    the bees may help this happen.  We don't know if there are any
    side  effects  --  whilst  the  materials are pretty benign in
    themselves, the drying effects may be significant.  All  these
    are basically contact only on the adult mites, so treatment is
    about every four days for four treatments.
 
The IBRA pack offers some other methods including heat treatment.
 
Regards,
--
Gordon Scott          [log in to unmask]   Compuserve
100332,3310
                      [log in to unmask]
Basingstoke Beekeeper [log in to unmask]
 
 
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