I read Bob's comments about formic fumigation being too 'hot' with
interest.  At the risk of being repetitive, I went to the W.Va. formic
fumigation board several years ago out of desperation (see:
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa/FormicAcid.pdf) and I have had good
results.  I can regulate the dose of 50% formic according to hive strength
(I use a graduated cylinder to meter the dose) and the fumigation period is
24 hours, though the level of intense fumigation is much shorter.  I live
in the hot humid southeast and worry about high temps and formic too.  I
get around it by putting the boards on late in the afternoon so the active
fumigation occurs late in the day after the intense heat has passed.  If I
see a light kill of very young bees at the entrance the morning after
fumigation I know I got a good mite kill.  To get a good hive seal I dumped
my screened bottoms and went back to a solid bottom with a uniform entrance
that takes an entrance reducer and seals well.  I make them out of 1/2
plywood and 5/4 lumber.  The only problems I have had are poor quality
absorbent pads in the early fume boards I made (the best ones I have found
are puppy disposable 'accident' pads) and if we get rain during the early
part of the fumigation water seeps into the edges of the pad and dilutes
the formic.  It is a pain the make the fumigation boards and haul them
around but once made they are good for many years and I get a good mite
kill at a very low price.  I am looking for a good source of 90% formic in
the southeast.  Does anyone have any tips?

I do alcohol washes to confirm mite kills and like Mike in LA, I run the
mite wash through a coffee filter sitting in a large mesh tea strainer over
a white 2 gallon bucket.  I can see the mites, reuse the alcohol a couple
of times before it gets too cloudy, and save a portion of the bees for a
Nosema assay.

Bill Lord
Louisburg, NC

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