[NAFEX] nafex Digest, Vol 87, Issue 20
Neil Lewis
lewisn at georgetown.edu
Sat Apr 17 13:46:55 EDT 2010
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> treating bees for mites
> Friday, April 16, 2010 1:05 PM
> From: "Kieran and/or Donna" holycow at frontiernet.net
> To: "North American Fruit Explorers" nafex at lists.ibiblio.org
>
> I heard of a powdered sugar trick last year from a local guy in TN. My son lost the best of his 3 hives this winter up in WA state, so he's doing the powdered sugar trick. A beekeeper up his way developed a system where you slide in a section with a white plastic bottom, coated with cooking oil. Sprinkle the powdered sugar onto the bees from above, the mites lose their footing and fall through onto the white plastic below. You check in 10 minutes to see how bad your problem was. He had hundreds fall off in his surviving hives. (I can send his email in case you want to know more.) He spent the $30 per hive that she was charging for the setup, it was worth it to him. I had always thought I'd have bees someday and never got around to it. He enjoys his and so did all my friends who've had them. It's surprising really how many people I've met who've kept bees, but most lost them in all the mite trouble. One friend said that he'd put his bee suit in a b
> lack plastic bag and put it in the garage, his kids thought it was garbage and took it to the dump when they were cleaning up. Just thought I'd mention that as a cautionary tale. Think of all the valuable things we might think to protect in a black plastic garbage bag.... keeps out the dust and the mud daubers, sure, but maybe there are better storage techniques.
> If the powdered sugar works as well as they say, we may see more bees soon. Also the business of people improving on bees to make bigger cells in the foundation, that seems to have backfired. Since it took longer for each larva to grow to fill the larger cell, it gave the mites a few extra days to get going. The local guy said they are going back to foundation the size that bees invented. I've wondered if the slightly smaller black wild German bees take a slightly shorter time to mature.... anyway, after last year's sudden appearance of yellow honeybees, they are gone this year and only the black wild ones remain. I'd sure like to know what their trick is. You know they said back years ago that with the mites only tame bees with humans to treat their mites would survive. Our experience is that only the wild colonies are surviving. Year after year they have been out pollinating our early trees and plants, with hardly a tame yellow or belted bee to be
> seen. I know there aren't many of them like there should be because they don't show up on the clover later. Our place is apparently really attractive in the early spring, worth coming to if you are a honeybee. Last year I had great hopes for the bee population, there were actually honeybees in the white clover in the summer, just like when I was a kid getting my bare feet stung in the lawn. Whoever had those yellow bees, they were doing great, but apparently they died out in the long cold winter. It's a shame. But our local beekeepers seem to be a tightknit bunch, so I think this powdered sugar trick will spread. Incidentally, my son said that the mite population doubles every 21 days, so it's worthwhile if you have bees to jump on the problem ASAP.
> Donna
>
>
>
Donna,
The device you describe is called a 'screened bottom board'. They are
quite popular now. One purported function they play is allowing mites to
fall to the ground if you take the plastic bottom out, or onto the oiled
bottom if you leave it in. They also allow one to check mite levels, as
you mentioned, by the daily number of mites stuck on the oiled bottom
board, and to check other aspects of the hive by examining the debris
left on the bottom. Many people think that if the bottom is removed
they provide better ventilation for the hive. Their value in keeping
mite populations in check (as in providing ventilation) is extremely
contentious among beekeepers. So is the powdered sugar method of
keeping mites in check. At best, powdered sugar will only dislodge
mites on bees, not mites that are in the capped brood (i.e. the
developing larvae), and there are large numbers of the latter. So you
must be prepared to repeatedly dust the hives with sugar. I've tried
this method, and would not rely on it to keep mite populations under
control. The bees also do not like it, and especially in late summer it
really gets them angry. It may help slow mite population growth in the
spring and summer, but you will probably want to treat in late summer or
early fall with something guaranteed to be much more effective. I have
found a commercial thyme essential oil based product called Apiguard to
be very effective when applied in September here in Maryland. It will
kill way more mites than powdered sugar. If you just dust with powdered
sugar, then you are playing Russian roulette in regard to getting your
hives through the winter. (Incidentally, bees are fine in long cold
winters; if they die it is usually due to factors such as mites, bad
ventilation, moisture in the hive, skimpy food supplies left on by the
beekeeper, rather than cold as such.)
As for cell size, there are many who think that the commercial
foundation on which bees build their comb was built to an unnatural size
and that this encourages mite population growth. The theory is, as you
mention, that smaller bees would mature earlier and provide less time
for mite populations to rise (since mites mature in the capped brood).
Some people swear by small cell, but a recent survey of research on it
in one of the major bee magazines found bees on small cell to do no
better in regard to mites than bees on regular foundation.
If you want to find out the state of play regarding mites and different
ways of dealing with them, check out the website scientific beekeeping
by Randy Oliver.
One thing to note about anecdotal claims about how this or that works,
is that most people are relying on their experience with just a few
hives. There are so many variables involved in a beehive that it is, in
my view, impossible to tell what really works or does not under such
conditions.
Neil Lewis
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