Sender: |
|
Date: |
Sat, 21 Apr 2007 09:20:36 -0400 |
Reply-To: |
|
Subject: |
|
MIME-Version: |
1.0 |
Content-Transfer-Encoding: |
7bit |
In-Reply-To: |
|
Content-Type: |
text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed |
From: |
|
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
David Vander Dussen wrote:
>
> Good winter packing makes a difference and a proper
> formic acid treatment (Mite-AwayII)once a year really
> cleans it up.
>
>
>
I asked many at our Annual Meting who had success last winter what they
use to treat mites. The successful one used formic or thymol. In every
case they came through the winter with healthy colonies "boiling with
bees". Both of those treatments also control TM.
Those like me who only used OA drip lost colonies. OA drip does not seem
to control TM. Nor do strips. When I would treat with Apistan, years
ago, I would always treat for TM with Crisco patties. Since I started
using OA drip, I did not treat for TM. Plus, other things were going on
that directed my attention away from bees.
Mine colony loss was definitely TM. I checked them with a magnifying
glass yesterday. The dead bees were large, not stubby, all against the
warm side of the hive and a small cluster. There were plenty of stores
and no brood. I found no Varroa on the bees with only one or two on the
bottom board.
I grant that this is not much of a data point, but it will be
interesting to see just what the treatments were for those who suffered
large winter losses. The key word in David's post is "proper". For
Formic to work in the North, you have to have the correct conditions.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine
******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm *
******************************************************
|
|
|