[log in to unmask] wrote: > > Alyn W. Ashworth wrote: > > An additional technique is to trap the Q on a frame of drone comb, caged > in with excluder-type walls, so that she only lays drone. When the comb > is full (sealed?), transfer the Q to another similar frame trap, destroy > the first and repeat. I think that the idea is to make sure that the > only available cells for the varroa are those within the special frames, > so that a large proportion are destroyed. > > We don't (yet, quite) have the dreaded mite here in Liverpool, but > perhaps someone with practical experience could enlarge on this > treatment and it's pros & cons - looks attractive, but may be a lot of > work for anyone with more than a couple of hives. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > Methods of 'comb trapping' varroa mites have been used quite widely in Europe, and properly carried out can remove up to 90% of mites from a colony. It is not necessary to use drone comb in the comb-cage, and if you do you tend to find the queen does not lay properly. Worker comb is much better; the important thing is that the only young brood available to mites wishing to reproducein in the! trap combs during the month or so the method is in use. snip > James Morton > CSL Regional Bee Inspector (S.E England) Dear Mr. Morton et al: It is amazing to see to what extents humanity will go when attempting to control the maladies that affect us, especially when these are influenced by nature. And as usual, when tampering with nature, humanity ends up at the losing end! In my experience, attempting to control mites in a fashion as explained above is not a control method, but in fact a propagation method since it gives the mites every opportunity to gain control of that colony where they are given a "free pass" to breed. It is very important to realize that the two most important life-giving mechanisms of the colony are taken away: the egg-laying queen and the feeding mechanism of newly born worker bees! Any beekeeper with a minor knowledge of beekeeping has to know that he/she wants those two factors to be optimum in the colonies. Besides when there are no newborn to maintain the natural ongoing processes of the hive, everything comes to a largely diminished rate! Add to that the fact that mites escape the cells where they are bred before the host bee emerges. Result: a mite breeding program. In all sincerity, I hope that any concientious beekeeper engaged in the practice mentioned above, will discontinue it. To quote an old proverb: "two wrongs do not make a right." Varroa mites are bad critters. To give them the opportunity to propagate is bad! Two bad factors that will contribute to major setbacks for those who practice this activity and to beekeeping in general. PLEASE DON'T. Many Regards. Dr. Pedro Rodriguez Virginia Beach, Virginia (USA) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- I am unclear where you feel the mites are reproducing during the period of comb trapping since there is no brood produced in the colony other than that within the three combs on which the queen has been caged. Since none of this is allowed to emerge (it is removed and destroyed after it is sealed) there is no way mites within can emerge. Therefore all mites entering brood cells to reproduce during comb trapping are removed from the colony, causing the mite population to decrease. Neither the egg laying queen nor the feeding mechanism of young bees are taken away as you suggest. The queen remains laying throughout and bees continue to care for her brood. At the end of comb trapping, there are still plenty of bees less than a fortnight old, perfectly capable of feeding brood. Although a month in which no eggs are laid that will contribute to the colony may seem detrimental, if the comb trapping is timed sensibly, these would have been workers born to late to forage in the main flow, and too early to be able to go into winter as young bees . Their absense is not terribly significant as colonies are naturally decreasing in size after the end of the main flow anyway. In practice queens quickly resume egg laying after comb trapping, but some beekeepers use the opportunity to replace her with a young one. Although this method does have its drawbacks, it is important to be realistic about where these lie. James Morton