Those are great results! In my case I have been able to maintain a ~1% level, not quite as good as your results. One point that somehow eluded me, you said that the strips can or should remain in the hive longer than what I did. For some reason I removed the strips after 6 weeks. Going forward, I will extend the duration of keeping the strips in the hive and monitor the results. I do use oxalic vapor, especially now when it's cold and brood level is nearing it's lowest number. Without treatment, my hives health declines quite quickly. So, I will continue to use the extended Oxalic acid release strips and vapor, as this method works pretty well. Thanks for sharing! Cheers, Peter
Hi, Chris, On my set up I have an inner cover with three screened vent hole and then a vent box and then a roof, I wonder if letting more air flow from the brood nest up into the honey supers would help stop the bearding and also allow more queen pheromone up into the honey supers to keep the bees happier up there. I think the honey supers would perhaps work like a chimney. My hives never got strong enough for bearding to be a problem last year but in other years I have had some monster hives with the vent boxes I can't remember seeing bearding on them. Scott
Hi Scott. Yes, you might be right. I used to put screened vent holes in my inner covers when I used nothing but telescoping lids. Two things changed that, the first was that the bees always blocked the screen with propolis suggesting they didn't want the ventilation, and second, I moved to migratory lids with no inner cover on most of my hives. The solution of putting a twig under the lid to increase air flow seems a bit rough, but it is effective. Bearding doesn't concern me too much, other than it being an early warning sign that the hive is very full and a candidate to go into swarm mode in the not too distant future. I hope the snow isn't piling up too high yet in your part of the world. :) Cheers Chris
Thank you for sharing really enjoy the subject around these strips. I'm located in Canada and truly see a need for this type of treatment in our environment. The concern or question I have is can you leave these strips on during a honey flow. I do understand that there's oxalic acid naturally in our environment and this should not affect the honey in anyway. Just wondering what your thoughts are on using this during a honey flow. I do treat with apivar in the spring. What I find is during the summer season or the build-up season into the honey flow the mite load increases. Then when we pull our honey supers off in mid-august and prepare to treat for fall the mite loads are sometimes extremely high. So I'm looking at this as a maintenance treatment mid to late summer. Thank you for your input greatly appreciated. I do understand environmental conditions and location has an effect on these treatments so I'm just looking for a general consensus on your thoughts.
Hi Dave, yes I found the same thing regarding mite levels peaking over summer and yes, I now put OA strips in my hives year round, including the honey flow. OA has been approved for application while honey supers are on here in New Zealand. This approval was based, I understand, on research showing that the addition of OA into the hive during the honey flow does not increase the naturally occurring levels of OA in the honey. Of course, the regulations might be different in Canada. Assuming it is legal in Canada, my advice would be don't wait until late summer. Put the OA strips in as soon as you have taken your Apivar out in spring and keep them in your hives all summer. They are good at keeping mite levels low, but in my experience they are not so good at knocking high mite levels down. Thanks for the feedback, it is greatly appreciated. Cheers Chris
Hi, thanks, I am glad you are enjoying them. I do sell queens, but only locally. I could courier them to you, but my advice is buy from a local breeder. My bees do really well here in Otago, but they might not do as well further north (not that I have tried them). Also, I am having difficulty keeping up with demand, every Queen I produce of the next few months is already sold. Find a local breeder that breeds bees from local stock. You will have a higher chance of getting bees that do well in your conditions. Cheers
Thanks for posting your results!
My pleasure!
Those are great results! In my case I have been able to maintain a ~1% level, not quite as good as your results. One point that somehow eluded me, you said that the strips can or should remain in the hive longer than what I did. For some reason I removed the strips after 6 weeks. Going forward, I will extend the duration of keeping the strips in the hive and monitor the results. I do use oxalic vapor, especially now when it's cold and brood level is nearing it's lowest number.
Without treatment, my hives health declines quite quickly. So, I will continue to use the extended Oxalic acid release strips and vapor, as this method works pretty well. Thanks for sharing! Cheers, Peter
Thanks Peter, yes I believe that leaving the strips in for longer works better. Cheers Chris
Hi, Chris, On my set up I have an inner cover with three screened vent hole and then a vent box and then a roof, I wonder if letting more air flow from the brood nest up into the honey supers would help stop the bearding and also allow more queen pheromone up into the honey supers to keep the bees happier up there. I think the honey supers would perhaps work like a chimney.
My hives never got strong enough for bearding to be a problem last year but in other years I have had some monster hives with the vent boxes I can't remember seeing bearding on them.
Scott
Hi Scott. Yes, you might be right. I used to put screened vent holes in my inner covers when I used nothing but telescoping lids. Two things changed that, the first was that the bees always blocked the screen with propolis suggesting they didn't want the ventilation, and second, I moved to migratory lids with no inner cover on most of my hives. The solution of putting a twig under the lid to increase air flow seems a bit rough, but it is effective. Bearding doesn't concern me too much, other than it being an early warning sign that the hive is very full and a candidate to go into swarm mode in the not too distant future. I hope the snow isn't piling up too high yet in your part of the world. :) Cheers Chris
This was great thanks for sharing
Thank you, good info.
Thank you for sharing really enjoy the subject around these strips. I'm located in Canada and truly see a need for this type of treatment in our environment. The concern or question I have is can you leave these strips on during a honey flow. I do understand that there's oxalic acid naturally in our environment and this should not affect the honey in anyway. Just wondering what your thoughts are on using this during a honey flow. I do treat with apivar in the spring. What I find is during the summer season or the build-up season into the honey flow the mite load increases. Then when we pull our honey supers off in mid-august and prepare to treat for fall the mite loads are sometimes extremely high. So I'm looking at this as a maintenance treatment mid to late summer. Thank you for your input greatly appreciated. I do understand environmental conditions and location has an effect on these treatments so I'm just looking for a general consensus on your thoughts.
Hi Dave, yes I found the same thing regarding mite levels peaking over summer and yes, I now put OA strips in my hives year round, including the honey flow. OA has been approved for application while honey supers are on here in New Zealand. This approval was based, I understand, on research showing that the addition of OA into the hive during the honey flow does not increase the naturally occurring levels of OA in the honey. Of course, the regulations might be different in Canada. Assuming it is legal in Canada, my advice would be don't wait until late summer. Put the OA strips in as soon as you have taken your Apivar out in spring and keep them in your hives all summer. They are good at keeping mite levels low, but in my experience they are not so good at knocking high mite levels down.
Thanks for the feedback, it is greatly appreciated. Cheers Chris
You can make the test with co2 gaz.
You dont kill bees
Hi Chris, loving your videos! Do you sell Queens and courier to Lower Hutt? How do I contact you, thanks!
Hi, thanks, I am glad you are enjoying them. I do sell queens, but only locally. I could courier them to you, but my advice is buy from a local breeder. My bees do really well here in Otago, but they might not do as well further north (not that I have tried them). Also, I am having difficulty keeping up with demand, every Queen I produce of the next few months is already sold. Find a local breeder that breeds bees from local stock. You will have a higher chance of getting bees that do well in your conditions. Cheers
The best way to contact me is to PM me on my Fraser Bees Facebook page.
Thanks for your reply. I'll look around locally as that does make sense. I don't facebook so I'll annoy you here with any further questions ha ha! 👍
Are they made with cardboard chris?
Hi, no I make mine with 3 strips of Gib Tape sewn together. I show how I make them in more detail in Ep 31.