Hello All & Ruary Rudd

Ruary wrote:
>I know that the Open Mesh Floor is on all year, but what are the criteria
>which you will use to decide on: spraying sugar,FGMO Ipereat

I will use the paper insert in the Open mesh floor periodically to obtain an
estimate of the level of infestation in the hive by counting varroa which
fall naturally. This is my first year with varroa but I am going to try to
avoid using Bayvarol. I realise that this may result in my losing hives due
to inexperience but I must start from where I am. I have one apiary at
present with varroa to my knowledge but the infestation appears to be very
light.

By using different treatments I am hoping that the claims made for IPM are
borne out in practice. A friend of mine has used Ipereat last year and this
year, and reported good mite kills. This is an Italian product and there is
a supply on its way to me.

A Fogger is on its way to me to use FGMO and by all accounts this is showing
good results.

In the last couple of days I had an e mail from a New Zealand beekeeper who
also has a Fogger on its way to him and we will be comparing results.
Perhaps others may wish to share their experiences with us using IPM.
Ireland and New Zealand on opposite sides of the globe both have varroa only
for a relatively short time.

I have made a simple sugar sprayer from a plastic mineral water bottle to
add another string to the IPM bow. And thanks to the BEE-L archives for the
assistance with this and also to those kind beekeepers who wrote to me with
more help.

At this stage I could not have less experience in using IPM but I am going
to do my best with it.
I can only hope that I will gain experience in using these IPM treatments
faster than the mites can exploit my initial lack of experience. I realise
that the problem of reinfestation will stalk my initial efforts, until the
mite is fairly evenly distributed and until feral colonies and those
maintained by non compliant beekeepers are eliminated by the mite.

But Danish, Dutch and German beekeepers seem to be handling varroa without
chemicals. So why cannot I?

Only time will tell.

Sincerely
Tom Barrett
Dublin
Ireland