Coming on the heels of the news of varroa in NSW, the current edition of
the topic of euthanasia is not about killing adult bees, but about killing
varroa mites with the aim of slowing or preventing their spread and the
hope of eradicating them from the continent, though the latter is probably
pissing into the wind.

A few thoughts to keep in mind when deciding how to kill colonies for
varroa containment:
      *Put it in perspective.  It's not fun, but it's part of responsible
animal husbandry.  Hoof and mouth, anthrax, avian flu, . . .Varroa.
      *Don't go overboard.  Burning, burying, confiscating entire hives or
operations isn't going to win anyone's cooperation and it's not necessary.
 The equipment isn't at issue.  This isn't AFB or even EFB.  Killing
colonies isn't any beekeeper's idea of fun, but saving the equipment makes
it more palatable.
      *Killing must be quick.  It's not euthanasia otherwise.
      *Killing must be complete, including foragers, defense bees, brood.
      *Limit toxicity and residue.  Again, easier to reuse equipment,
dispose of treated material, reduce harm to user and environment.  RE:
rubbing alcohol.  Spread some on your skin, let it dry, then taste your
skin. There's still something there, probably an added bittering agent.
      *KISS.  The process should be easy, light on labor, and
materials should be easily obtainable and portable.

   I killed and sampled lots of hives in swarm traps throughout TX and N
Mexico as part of the USDA-ARS AHB program.  We killed them with ethyl
acetate, the stuff that replaced cyanide in killing jars.  This wasn't for
control of any sort - just for monitoring characteristics of local swarms
before, during, and after Africanization.  These were in water resistant
pulp pot swarm traps (+/- a single deep) with a single entrance the size of
a wine cork in the small end.  The large end was fitted with a lid that
could be removed for samling once the colony was killed.  Colonies were up
to 3 months old.   We placed the whole trap into a black plastic garbage
bag, poked the squirt bottle tip through into the entrance and squeezed.
So maybe 1/2 cup??  In 10 min, adults were dead and so was the brood,
though with an occasional worker emerging later.  We weren't looking at
varroa at the time.  The black bag in the sun often heated the contents to
where we had to let brood/honey cool before sticking our hands in it.  In
TX after sampling we saved capped brood for chickens and chilli, capped
honey for people, and wax for candles or foundation. (In Mexico our
collaborators could take it).  It did need a little gassing off
before consumption.  Kill times were a little longer in cooler weather.
The empty trap was rehung for another swarm.  I'm pretty sure that hives
killed that way could be repopulated in a week, maybe 48 hr.  Bees and
brood can be composted.  (There's a good little research project for
someone who normally kills bees at the end of the season - or someone with
funding.  Are varroa in the brood killed?  How does a package do when
installed on that equipment?  How does it compare to cyanide?)   So, ethyl
acetate has low toxicity and no residual in the environment or hive,is
readily available, is easy to apply, works well, and (with Bill Wilson at
the head of the lab at the time) the absolute cheapest.  It is flammable
and will dissolve many things.
   Best to have all the bees at home in the hive at the time, but multiple
hives can be screened in at night and gassed on a more leisurely schedule.
   Feral AHB colonies were a concern for ranchers, recreational areas, and
snowbird parks.  We went to one of the King cattle ranches where there was
no beekeeping and set up some experimental hives.  These were known, of
course, but the idea was to be able to kill colonies without having to find
each one first and also get the ones that were inaccessible.  We flew kites
on fishing rods with drone traps baited with artificial QMP applied to a
blackened cigarette filter.  We dabbed a small amount of acephate on the
drones and sent them home.  They don't groom themselves so the main dose
was taken up and spread by the workers at home.  This gave fast and near
complete kill, you don't see the dead bees, except for the experiment, and
it's fun flying a kite.  Registered hive owners could be notified to put
drone screens on their hives (and maybe they should do that anyway).
Unregistered hives, well. . .   I don't think we even tried reusing the
equipment, but it was ferals we were after anyway.   Colonies have to be
putting out drones, and you need to hit a DCA or flight path.  I don't know
how long the acephate lasts in the hive and whether post mortem robbing
might affect managed hives or other insects.
   There was a Master's student who investigated ways of killing nuisance
hives in structures, especially soffits.  Resmethrin aerosol was the best
overall and could cover irregular cavities.  Dealing with the dead colony
is another adventure.
   Dawn and water spray worked best for swarms.
   So, there are good ways to kill colonies, managed and feral, but that's
only part of the solution.

  Enough about killing bees.  I'm off to try to keep mine alive.
Cheers,
Kristina Williams
Beehave, LLC
Longmont, CO
USA

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