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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Erika Wittchen <erika48 AT gmail.com>, ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] varroa count and treatment question (Api Life Var)
  • Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2015 16:49:22 -0400

Erika,

Great questions. The short answers:

1) Yes, treat both hives with an effective miticide such as ApiLife Var, ApiGuard or MiteAway Quick Strips. Treating all of them isn't to prevent robbing; it because mites drift from hive to hive on drifting bees. That behavior is a key part of the mites' propagation strategy. So you should treat your bee yard as a unit, not just a few hives within it.

2) Definitely yes, wait until the temperature allows you to treat per the label instructions. The temperature usually begins to cooperate around late August. The 3 fumigation-type treatments mentioned above are all temperature sensitive and can cause harm to the colony if applied when the temperature is too hot. Follow the directions carefully.

More information is <here>, <here> and <here>. Take a look and let me know if you have further questions.

Randall

On 7/21/2015 1:51 PM, Erika Wittchen wrote:
Hi all, was wondering if anyone has any advice for us re: varroa load and treatment options. 

Having just harvested our honey a few weeks ago, we did a powdered sugar test this weekend and found a mite count of 17 in one hive, and 1 in another.  From what I understand, 17 is on the threshold for treatment, correct?

We bought some Api Life Var tablets, but upon reading the instructions it advises that treatment above temperatures of 90F can be very stressful and might lead to absconding.  I also read that other hives should be treated simultaneously to prevent robbing. We have only one other hive, and it only had a mite count of 1.

Anyone have experience with this product?  Would it be better to treat now and risk the hive, or wait until when--it will likely be September before the daily highs are below 90. And if we do treat, do we treat both hives?

Other than the somewhat high mite count, the hive is doing really well in my opinion.
I'm interested in hearing what others think.

Thanks as always!
Erika


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