Hello Gang,

I have had the opportunity to talk with the folks who lost hives in New Hampshire, this past winter to V-mites despite applying Apistan according to the label. The thread that runs through this winter kill fabric seems to
be related to later rather than early application of Apistan.

One beekeeper applied Apistan for 53 days in early to mid August,
he is not sure if it was applied at the very beginning of the month,
but he is  sure it was done by mid August. He lost 12 out of 15 hives.
I lost none.

Those I spoke with all collected fall honey, Golden Rod , and Aster.
I left the fall honey for the bees so I did not have low temperatures
at the end of my treatment period.I live in the same geographic area and I treated beginning on July 15th for the recommended time and strength.

I can guess why the trouble occurred by looking back on the night time temperatures during treatment. Keep in mind, this is only a guess,
not a scientific study.

July and August night time temps were relatively high compared to September,
and October.

Example; Jul=month, 15=day, 50f= temperature in farenheight.

Jul  15=50f, 16=61f, 17=62f, 18=62f, 19=59f, 20=52f, 21=42f, 22=56f
     23=56f, 24=59f, 25=62f, 26=60f, 27=61f, 28=57f, 29=55f, 30=57f

Aug  06=50f, 07=48f, 08=54f, 09=49f, 10=38f, 11=52f, 12=60f, 13=52f, 14=64f
     15=58f, 16=xxf, 17=xxf, 18=60f, 19=48f, 20=xxf, 21=46f, 22=51f, 23=51f
     24=51f, 25=52f, 26=55f, 27=59f, 28=65f, 29=44f, 30=44f, 31=40f

Sep  01=44f, 02=xxf, 03=49f, 04=52f, 05=52f, 06=62f, 07=67f, 08=61f, 09=61f,        10=64f, 11=54f, 12=43f, 13=43f, 14=52f, 15=60f, 16=xxf, 17=43f,
     18=45f, 19=33f, 20=36f, 21=xxf, 22=xxf, 23=40f, 24,xxf, 25=46f,
     27=36f, 28=50f, 29=61f, 30=54f,

Oct,01=39f, 02=35f, 03=36f, 04=37f, 05=xxf, 06=32f, 07=30f, 08=24f, 09=45f,
    10=37f, 11=45f, 12=32f, 13=32f, 14=52f, 15=26f, 16=29f, 17=45f,                18=41f, 19=22f, 20=37f, 21=32f, 22=28f, 23=39f, 24=38f, 25=32f
    26=28f, 27=31f, 28=21f, 29=29f, 30=30f, 31=41f,


If he began treatment on July 15, day 196+53=249,it ended on  Sept, 6th
Treatment begining on aug 15th, day 227+53=280, ended on Oct. 7th,

[Day no. is the Julian calendar date, ex. aug, 15, 1999 was day number 196.
53 is the number of days of treatment.]

There is a big difference in night time temperatures toward the end of
the treatment as compared to the beginning if treatment was begun on
August 15th.



Ernie Gregoire "Beekeeper," definition= partially brave,

                            partially excentric

Grist Mill Apiary

Canaan, New Hampshire, USA


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06/21/99 14:34:57