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

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