Randy Oliver <[log in to unmask]> writes:

> The proactive beekeeper will monitor mite levels throughout the
> season, and apply seasonally-adjusted treatment thresholds to keep
> the mites at acceptable levels.

I'm curious to know how often throughout the season you recommend for
monitoring.  Mind you, I believe you're in California, so your
"season" will be quite different from mine in Montreal.  ;-)

For the sake of comparison, the recommendations issued by the Québec
ministry of agriculture would have me test and possibly treat:

  - Coming out of wintering, 2 weeks before dandelions
  - Summer (late July / early August)
  - End of season (late August / early July)
  - November (no test, and treatment only if judged necessary
    at previous test)

Their recommended method for testing is natural mite fall onto sticky
board over 2 to 5 days.  Of course, for a new beekeeper, the challenge
is finding the mites among all the reddish bits of hive debris!

Last year "our" hive actually didn't belong to us, and was managed by
professionals, who came by and showed us the ropes every time they
performed an inspection.  This year the hive is really ours, and we're
on our own, but I'll probably pay for a consulting visit in August to
make sure I get the mite count right!

I'm enjoying reading the discussions among all you pros and
researchers; thank you all who post to this list...


Anne, trying to be a proactive (backyard) beekeeper!


P.S.: Thanks everyone for the advice a few weeks ago about raccoons
      and skunks.

      You were probably right about it being a skunk, but we've
      had no more angry bee incidents since that one time, despite
      several skunk sightings by a neighbour.  The hive is on two
      rows of bricks on a concrete patio, so no animal tracks - I
      tried sprinkling a bit of flour around to capture tracks,
      but got nothing but an ugly mess.  :-/

      I ended up putting some "cat scat" mats (spiky plastic things)
      in front of the hive - probably easy for an animal to move
      them, but then I'd know "someone" had been around, and the
      mats are still in place.  If the problem recurs and I have
      to escalate, I'll consider raising the hive more, but I'm
      pretty short, and the hive is already pretty tall!  :-)

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