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Thread: Varroa – feasibility of clearing?

  1. #21
    Senior Member Kate Atchley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Drone Ranger View Post
    .....Course if you have a neighbour doesn't bother treating then his mites will be invading your hives next year
    Yes, the first four years or so are the most tricky.

    I learned beekeeping in the London around the 4th year of varroa and again, when I moved back to Scotland, Edinburgh was in about its 4th year of the mite. So in both places it was beginning to settle ... the absconding from neglected or wild colonies had largely happened and head-in-the-sand beekeepers had mostly given up.

    So we've a way to go here. I keep bees in 3 places, two of which have not yet been infested but distances suggest that won't last long.

    MAQS seems more risky than it says on the packet, especially when mesh floors are not in use, but it's very helpful in half doses for knocking down as-yet-unseen varroa. As you say, Drone Ranger, it is said not to affect the honey.

    I'd prefer to go back to using my old formic acid frame-fitted vapourisers which were highly effective but more bother. I know folk don't like us to use acid ... but hey, I still have some so may as well use it up.

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kate Atchley View Post
    Yes, the first four years or so are the most tricky.

    I learned beekeeping in the London around the 4th year of varroa and again, when I moved back to Scotland, Edinburgh was in about its 4th year of the mite. So in both places it was beginning to settle ... the absconding from neglected or wild colonies had largely happened and head-in-the-sand beekeepers had mostly given up.

    So we've a way to go here. I keep bees in 3 places, two of which have not yet been infested but distances suggest that won't last long.

    MAQS seems more risky than it says on the packet, especially when mesh floors are not in use, but it's very helpful in half doses for knocking down as-yet-unseen varroa. As you say, Drone Ranger, it is said not to affect the honey.

    I'd prefer to go back to using my old formic acid frame-fitted vapourisers which were highly effective but more bother. I know folk don't like us to use acid ... but hey, I still have some so may as well use it up.
    Hi Kate
    I have been chatting with a fellow beekeeper down South who lost 2 queens this Autumn
    He is sure MAQS was the reason
    I think it might be safest as a spring treatment rather than the risky Autumn one
    I'm another retiree from London who came home again
    I hope the new Vita hop based treatment is a good one
    Your local bees could very vulnerable as they have had no exposure until now
    Best of luck Kate rallying the troops and getting them to work together on the varroa problem

  3. #23
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    Hi
    sorry to hear the further spread of Varroa, but take heart, there are countries that have lived with varroa for decades now.
    The greatest shame is that feral colonies can not survive longterm as a result. For beekeepers its a hassle dealing with varroa, but you get used to it.
    The problem of treatment of colonies at this time of year (imperative for good quality winter bees) in Scotlands climate is a serious one. Is anyone spray treating with lactose acid? Works excellently on a colony so long as it is brood free, over 90% effectiveness if I remember right. Getting them brood free is more work though.

  4. #24
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Default Varroa – feasibility of clearing?

    Calum
    In my experience Apiguard treatment often results in colonies being brood free for a significant period in the autumn. I've always assumed that the resulting mite loss more than compensated for the loss of bees going into the winter. Perhaps another way to achieve this more quickly would be, immediately after the honey harvest, to do a shook swarm onto drawn comb and then treat with OA or lactic acid. It's obviously too late for foundation alone. It would take some organisation and you might have to also transfer frames of stores ... however, assuming you take the honey off relatively early (not heather then!) there should be ample time to generate new brood, and almost no interruption to the laying queen.
    Has anyone tried this?

  5. #25
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    Hi
    we tried something similar one year, after the harvest all closed brood was removed and the colonies were treated with formic acid.
    The closed brood was packed together in a couple of extra colonies, and also treated as soon as everything had emerged - these were then used to make shook swarms.

    It did not go badly, but there were losses due to (most probably) reinvasion. Reinvasion cannot be underestimated.
    Doing an OA treatment so early would mean that a later OA treatment around December wouldn't be possible (I think you should not treat the same bees twice)?

  6. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by Calum View Post
    Hi
    we tried something similar one year, after the harvest all closed brood was removed and the colonies were treated with formic acid.
    The closed brood was packed together in a couple of extra colonies, and also treated as soon as everything had emerged - these were then used to make shook swarms.

    It did not go badly, but there were losses due to (most probably) reinvasion. Reinvasion cannot be underestimated.
    Doing an OA treatment so early would mean that a later OA treatment around December wouldn't be possible (I think you should not treat the same bees twice)?
    You can treat them twice using the Varrox Vaporiser Calum
    Not with the trickle treatment though

  7. #27
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Is there any solid evidence that treating twice with Oxalic via trickle does harm or is it one of those statements which does the rounds without any science behind it.
    I think that might be advice from Fera or similar but it would be nice to see a paper which showed that it shortens the life of the bees treated or has some other adverse effect.

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    Is there any solid evidence that treating twice with Oxalic via trickle does harm or is it one of those statements which does the rounds without any science behind it.
    I think that might be advice from Fera or similar but it would be nice to see a paper which showed that it shortens the life of the bees treated or has some other adverse effect.
    There is solid evidence that even a single trickle does harm, there is no doubt about this to my mind, the question is, will a treatment do more harm than good ? and the likelyhood of this being the case increases hugely when considering a second treatment with the stuff.

  9. #29
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Is there a peer reviewed study on the matter though?
    Most bee treatments do some harm and some good so that in itself is not unusual.
    Look at all the threads about MAQS and queens at the moment.

  10. #30

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    Hi Jon, here is one oxalic study, if the link works, there are a few more.....

    http://www.nand.be/ambrosius/nieuws/oxaalzuurtest.pdf

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