Hi everyone,

In response to this report: 

>*The addition of two or four new CheckMite+ strips did not
>result in increased mite drop over 24 hours (approximately
>400 mties/colony) when compared to mite drop from colonies
>with "used strips" (approximately 350 mites/colony). In
>contrast, the addition of two Apistan strips resulted in a
>10-fold increase (approximately 3,800 mites/colony/24
>hours) in mite numbers when compared to the "used strips"
>mite drop.*

Mike wrote:
"I'm confused, I read the article, and after this post went back and read it
again. If the addition of the Apistan strips caused a 10 fold increase
in the mite drop, I assumed that it meant that the Apistan was working?
what am I missing?  should the mite drop been higher?
thanks Mike Bassett massachusetts"

The problem is that the mites that were dropped by the apistan were not killed.  Also the percent of the total mite population dropped by apistan was not high enough to give control of the varroa mites in these hives.  In short, we are adding coumaphos resistance to the varroa before they have lost fluvalinate resistance.  This of course is not a good situation at all.  What can be done?  Switch to resistant bees as soon as you can - try the russian and the SMR queens and see if they will work well in your outfit.  Try them before you face resistant mites and switch to what works best for you.  You can also try the 8 mesh ( 1/8 inch mesh) hive bottoms which give a little help with the varroa and might allow that apistan treatment to buy you some time if you are dealing with coumaphos resistance.  The more beekeepers buy and use the varroa resistant queens available ( both types ) the more the varroa resistance genes are going to be available in the drones out there and the more those traits will also move into the feral population of honey bees.  

FWIW

blane


******************************************
Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
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