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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [ocba] Mite bombs? Convinced, but need help?
  • Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 10:34:15 -0400

I've had folks contact me and say, "I know I need to control Varroa mites but I just don't know how." The information <here> tells how to monitor and <here> tells a little bit about treatments.

But wait, there's more...

For folks who have read all that stuff but still aren't sure what to do, how to do it or whether they are doing it right, I will conduct a hands-on demonstration at my bee yard (date to be determined). We'll go over monitoring methods, both good ones and bad ones, especially my easy-peasy favorite method. We'll see how to apply the most popular Varroa treatments, discuss which treatments are appropriate for your situation, discuss timing of treatments and so on. It doesn't matter whether you've had bees ten days or ten years: if you feel you would like a bit of assistance, this is for you.

If you are interested in participating, directly send me an e-mail OFF-LIST (DO NOT "REPLY TO ALL"!!!) or sign up at this Thursday night's OCBA meeting. Warning: a little bit of pre-event homework will be required. I will send you the official label directions for the treatments we will go over and you will read them before attending.

Randall Austin
NC Master Beekeeper
OCBA Director for Education

On 5/10/2017 7:38 AM, John Rintoul wrote:
861907E1-0EF3-49EC-A598-30305C9063C7 AT icloud.com">
As Lewis says, (repeatedly) "Varroa, varroa varroa!" They can kill your bees, they can kill your neighbors' bees. Save the bees. Monitor and treat responsibly.

John Rintoul
No trees or bees were killed in the distribution of this message, but countless electrons were seriously inconvenienced.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Peter Borst <peterlborst AT CORNELL.EDU>
Date: May 9, 2017 at 6:34:40 AM EDT
To: BEE-L AT COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM
Subject: [BEE-L] Mite bombs
Reply-To: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <BEE-L AT COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM>

In case you haven't seen this:

The importance of controlling varroa populations especially in areas of relatively dense bee colonies was stressed by Dr Dennis vanEngelsdorp at the BBKA Spring Convention earlier this month.

A sick colony explodes into the landscape and infiltrates surrounding apiaries, he said.

He identified the three key risk factors to bee health as varroa mites and associated viruses; pesticides in the field and in the hive; and poor nutrition.

Of these varroa is the biggest threat – and he and a research student soon expect to publish a paper showing that varroa mites feed off the fat rather than the haemolymph of honeybees – a factor that is of considerable importance for bees going into winter.

In a sample survey, he found that 56% of beekeepers had not used varroa-control products in the previous twelve months. For some hobbyists, not treating for varroa and losing, say, nine of ten colonies doesn’t matter too much. However, the impact does not stop at their own apiary.

In another study, he and his team marked bees in an apiary either yellow or blue. Yellow indicated that the colony was collapsing, blue that the colony was healthy. The collapsing colonies duly died out, but their surviving yellow-marked bees exploded like a bomb in the landscape. Those yellow bees were found in almost every apiary in a two-to-three-kilometer radius!

http://www.vita-europe.com/blog/
           



  • [ocba] Mite bombs, John Rintoul, 05/10/2017
    • [ocba] Mite bombs? Convinced, but need help?, Randall Austin, 05/10/2017

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