Last year when I got my package I did an oxalic treatment before the queen started laying. I didn't have any testing equipment except my eyes. Which told my the bees I bought had lots of varroa, because I could observe the mites on bees as they were coming and going from the hive. I had a queen excluder to prevent my bees from leaving during that time. Worked fine and my bees are still doing fine.
Do you believe witches does fly? I saw one.. also the is a type of 🐝 that cover their mes with wood sticks & when they’re carrying it… they look like a witch 🧙 on a 🧹 stick 😂🧹🐝🧙
Excellent video, Mr. Burns! Im in the middle of creating a 3 ring binder field journal. Im setting up different sections for notes and guides on feeding, splits, pest management, inspections, different stages of brood and potential priblems, etc. I'm also going to have an SDS section with information about all these different treatments to reference. I've learned so much from you! I'll be signing up for a couple of your classes here soon. Thanks again!
My first year of beekeeping I used formic pro in the fall. We had warmer weather than forecasted a day or two after application and my queen died and I lost the hive. Definitely important to understand the instructions/limitations of the various mite treatments before using. I'm sure I'll use formic again in the future, but it's hard to get over that one scarring experience.
GREAT VIDEO, this is the very question I asked at the Kankakee workshop you spoke at on 3/2. Thanks for making this video to go into the subject in more depth, very helpful. Love your presentation style, you did a great job at the workshop.
I had one over wintered hive that survived this year. I noticed a lot of deformed and split wings. I split the hive 3 times. I dusted all the hives with powdered sugar and added green drone comb to the 2 largest hives. All 4 hives have screened bottom boards. I haven’t done a mite wash, but I plan to do one the next time I inspect. I also plan to research the different forms of hard treatments like you suggested. Can I harvest honey from the two larger ones and then do a hard treatment? And is there a reversal for the deformed wing virus or will the harder treatment stop the viruses from spreading? Just hoping my hives aren’t doomed! Thanks!
Hi David, thanks a lot for your videos, I enjoy them a lot. But I am wondering: Wouldn't it be useful, if we wouldn't treat for mites until most of the mating is done? This way we would select for varroa resistance in a natural way. Drones from colonies that can't fight varroa, would have a very much lower chance to reproduce than drones from colonies that can fight the mites. By fighting mites before mating, we prevent varroa resistance from being an element of selection, don't we? And is using the drone comb for fighting mites really a good thing? This way we breed for mites that prefer to go into the worker brood instead of the drone brood - where they would't bother a all. I'm located in northern Germany and it's my second year of beekeeping.
When you get your bees will they a paper or something saying when where your bees treated and with what?These bees overwinterd somewhere with brood?For bio security it would be strange for me not to give some a sugar shake.If it’s 0 great I can treat later with a mild does of something.Does that make sense?
Thank you David. Question. I have two brood boxes and a honey super. I used formic pro for my treatment this spring. Does this render the honey super completely unuseable for human consumption? Or is there a timeframe that that honey super can in fact be used for human consumption? Thank you very much for your response. David your videos are absolutely fantastic.
Hey Clyde always remember that your label is the law. Formic Pro according to their current label at this time allows for the use with honey supers on the hive when treating.
Don't have bees yet I have a few feral hives in my neighborhood and am hoping to catch a swarm to get started. How would I approach mite control on a fresh new swarm?
We ran under 1% last year just using the IPM methods you recommended. Green Drone comb, screened bottom board, and powdered sugar dusting. Plus each hive had a brood break with push in queen cage, once. We also split our hive on Aug 1st, going against your advice. Maybe the mild winter saved us from failure?
This is super helpful. This is my second year and trying to get as prepared as possible for treating. I did two late splits in august when my one hive was trying to swarm. To my luck they were successful and as of two weeks ago my 4 total made it! Weathers warming up here in NYS quick and hopefully staying and im gonna use formic pro. Unfortunately between work and weather i never got to treat before winter. Hoping the damage isnt too bad. I do have one question David if you see this. I had one hive a Nuc, that after the first two months i never saw the queen again. Every time i looked i couldnt find her but always had eggs and larvae so she was there. I just could not see her. Whats the best thing to do in this case?
During the bee season, you can temporarily place queen excluders between all your boxes. Wait about two weeks, then the box with brood will be the one you can look carefully through to find the queen, then mark her and remove the queen excluders.
@beek that makes compete sense. Isolating her to one of two boxes. Thank you! If using formic pro, it says 50 to 85 degrees for the temperature use. Does that include night time Temps or is it safe to use when day times are 50-ish to 55 or better if the low are 30s and 40s? We're in our grey area of weather like that right now.
There’s this type of paralysis which sets in when I’m overwhelmed with so much new information. That means, I never got around to researching all “1,000 ways” of treating bees when I first got started. It would have been helpful if I could have gotten help at the start, so I didn’t delay doing a treatment. By the time I had researched all the treatments and spent time evaluating them it was the fall of my first year and probably all my bees had been bitten. Just hearing people tell me that I had to decide myself was super discouraging when I already had so many other things to learn. It’s like I was in shark invested waters and people were telling me good luck, figure it out yourself. And also being told that most likely no matter what I did, I’d lose all my bees the first year anyway. Yes. I am still super bitter and angry over my first year of bee keeping. This is what I tell people when I’m bitter: I had my bees in a small honey super for the winter. I didn’t give them any food. They were packed in the hive like a sandwich. The temperature was a constant negative 20 degrees. My bees survived. Did yours?
I get it. Sorry man, I don't know what to say. I guess that there are some people and groups out there that are just not very help but some are. I do hope that you can continue to have good success. I wish you all the best. I'm hoping you can rise above your bitterness and anger during your second year.
Hello and thank you for watching. Let's see, I know I've made video on mites, wax moths, mice, small hive beetle, European foulbrood, American foulbrood and now with over 800 videos over 16 years I probably have forgotten. So check my channel and you should find what you need.
Well it's hard to say, but mites are generally traveling into hives on various bees that enter the front. Mites cannot fly or travel far without bees. But, certainly other bugs like small hive beetle can be attracted to hives when you feed them pollen patties.
Great video but you forgot to mention that this only represents about 15% of the mites in the colony. 3 mites per 100 bees is 1200 mites and with 85% of mites in the brood at that time of year that means that a sample containing 3 mites per hundred bees taken while the hive is full of brood actually is likely to contain 8000 mites at that time....in 3 weeks it may be 24000 mites = dead very soon.
Last year when I got my package I did an oxalic treatment before the queen started laying. I didn't have any testing equipment except my eyes. Which told my the bees I bought had lots of varroa, because I could observe the mites on bees as they were coming and going from the hive. I had a queen excluder to prevent my bees from leaving during that time. Worked fine and my bees are still doing fine.
Good to hear
David's online courses are so worth it!
Nice of you to say. Thank you.
Do you believe witches does fly? I saw one.. also the is a type of 🐝 that cover their mes with wood sticks & when they’re carrying it… they look like a witch 🧙 on a 🧹 stick 😂🧹🐝🧙
Thank you for all your hard work !!
My pleasure!
I put aprivar strips in first week of feb! Calif
Excellent video, Mr. Burns! Im in the middle of creating a 3 ring binder field journal. Im setting up different sections for notes and guides on feeding, splits, pest management, inspections, different stages of brood and potential priblems, etc. I'm also going to have an SDS section with information about all these different treatments to reference. I've learned so much from you! I'll be signing up for a couple of your classes here soon. Thanks again!
Great idea!
My first year of beekeeping I used formic pro in the fall. We had warmer weather than forecasted a day or two after application and my queen died and I lost the hive. Definitely important to understand the instructions/limitations of the various mite treatments before using. I'm sure I'll use formic again in the future, but it's hard to get over that one scarring experience.
Great info David 👍😁🐝 a lot of your viewers will appreciate this video. By the way, loving talking bobblehead David.
Thanks Jessica. You're the only comment so far about bobblehead David talking 😀
David, very informative video. Thank you for doing this video for us. My best to you and Sheri
Thanks great information I’m new to this
So nice of you to say. Thanks for watching. And be sure to join our livestream every Thursday 7pm CST, here's the link: www.honeybeesonline.com/live
GREAT VIDEO, this is the very question I asked at the Kankakee workshop you spoke at on 3/2. Thanks for making this video to go into the subject in more depth, very helpful. Love your presentation style, you did a great job at the workshop.
Glad it was helpful!
Great timing. I was just asking myself some of the questions you answered
Thank you. Glad it was helpful.
Great advice. Temperature matters so much here in Texas. July and August are guaranteed 100°+ days.
Thanks
Good stuff thanks David and Sheri 😊
Thanks Brian
Great video as usual.
Thanks Mike
I had one over wintered hive that survived this year. I noticed a lot of deformed and split wings. I split the hive 3 times. I dusted all the hives with powdered sugar and added green drone comb to the 2 largest hives. All 4 hives have screened bottom boards. I haven’t done a mite wash, but I plan to do one the next time I inspect. I also plan to research the different forms of hard treatments like you suggested. Can I harvest honey from the two larger ones and then do a hard treatment? And is there a reversal for the deformed wing virus or will the harder treatment stop the viruses from spreading? Just hoping my hives aren’t doomed! Thanks!
Hi David, thanks a lot for your videos, I enjoy them a lot.
But I am wondering: Wouldn't it be useful, if we wouldn't treat for mites until most of the mating is done? This way we would select for varroa resistance in a natural way. Drones from colonies that can't fight varroa, would have a very much lower chance to reproduce than drones from colonies that can fight the mites. By fighting mites before mating, we prevent varroa resistance from being an element of selection, don't we?
And is using the drone comb for fighting mites really a good thing? This way we breed for mites that prefer to go into the worker brood instead of the drone brood - where they would't bother a all.
I'm located in northern Germany and it's my second year of beekeeping.
When you get your bees will they a paper or something saying when where your bees treated and with what?These bees overwinterd somewhere with brood?For bio security it would be strange for me not to give some a sugar shake.If it’s 0 great I can treat later with a mild does of something.Does that make sense?
Thank you David. Question. I have two brood boxes and a honey super. I used formic pro for my treatment this spring. Does this render the honey super completely unuseable for human consumption? Or is there a timeframe that that honey super can in fact be used for human consumption? Thank you very much for your response. David your videos are absolutely fantastic.
Hey Clyde always remember that your label is the law. Formic Pro according to their current label at this time allows for the use with honey supers on the hive when treating.
Don't have bees yet I have a few feral hives in my neighborhood and am hoping to catch a swarm to get started. How would I approach mite control on a fresh new swarm?
We ran under 1% last year just using the IPM methods you recommended. Green Drone comb, screened bottom board, and powdered sugar dusting. Plus each hive had a brood break with push in queen cage, once. We also split our hive on Aug 1st, going against your advice. Maybe the mild winter saved us from failure?
Great going!!
Hey David. What do you think about the mineral oil and mint fogging for mites?
I've never used it, so I cannot poo poo it. I try and stick with known, products. But that's just me.
This is super helpful. This is my second year and trying to get as prepared as possible for treating. I did two late splits in august when my one hive was trying to swarm. To my luck they were successful and as of two weeks ago my 4 total made it! Weathers warming up here in NYS quick and hopefully staying and im gonna use formic pro. Unfortunately between work and weather i never got to treat before winter. Hoping the damage isnt too bad.
I do have one question David if you see this. I had one hive a Nuc, that after the first two months i never saw the queen again. Every time i looked i couldnt find her but always had eggs and larvae so she was there. I just could not see her. Whats the best thing to do in this case?
During the bee season, you can temporarily place queen excluders between all your boxes. Wait about two weeks, then the box with brood will be the one you can look carefully through to find the queen, then mark her and remove the queen excluders.
@beek that makes compete sense. Isolating her to one of two boxes. Thank you!
If using formic pro, it says 50 to 85 degrees for the temperature use. Does that include night time Temps or is it safe to use when day times are 50-ish to 55 or better if the low are 30s and 40s? We're in our grey area of weather like that right now.
Sir please tell me how to treat moisture Inside the bee box
Yes, here is one of my videos addressing moisture in the hive: ua-cam.com/video/iXnOEBP5v5g/v-deo.html
Thank you sir
There’s this type of paralysis which sets in when I’m overwhelmed with so much new information. That means, I never got around to researching all “1,000 ways” of treating bees when I first got started. It would have been helpful if I could have gotten help at the start, so I didn’t delay doing a treatment. By the time I had researched all the treatments and spent time evaluating them it was the fall of my first year and probably all my bees had been bitten. Just hearing people tell me that I had to decide myself was super discouraging when I already had so many other things to learn. It’s like I was in shark invested waters and people were telling me good luck, figure it out yourself.
And also being told that most likely no matter what I did, I’d lose all my bees the first year anyway.
Yes. I am still super bitter and angry over my first year of bee keeping.
This is what I tell people when I’m bitter:
I had my bees in a small honey super for the winter. I didn’t give them any food. They were packed in the hive like a sandwich. The temperature was a constant negative 20 degrees. My bees survived. Did yours?
I get it. Sorry man, I don't know what to say. I guess that there are some people and groups out there that are just not very help but some are. I do hope that you can continue to have good success. I wish you all the best. I'm hoping you can rise above your bitterness and anger during your second year.
can you do a video on pests and diseases. how to prevent?
Hello and thank you for watching. Let's see, I know I've made video on mites, wax moths, mice, small hive beetle, European foulbrood, American foulbrood and now with over 800 videos over 16 years I probably have forgotten. So check my channel and you should find what you need.
See I have heard if you don’t have mites and the you put the traps out with sugar or whatever.l, it actually attracts mites and bugs
Well it's hard to say, but mites are generally traveling into hives on various bees that enter the front. Mites cannot fly or travel far without bees. But, certainly other bugs like small hive beetle can be attracted to hives when you feed them pollen patties.
David, Are you saying 3 mites per 100 bees = 9 mites per 300 bee test ? Just want to make this clear in my own mind. Thanks
Correct
Great video but you forgot to mention that this only represents about 15% of the mites in the colony. 3 mites per 100 bees is 1200 mites and with 85% of mites in the brood at that time of year that means that a sample containing 3 mites per hundred bees taken while the hive is full of brood actually is likely to contain 8000 mites at that time....in 3 weeks it may be 24000 mites = dead very soon.
Good point
Sup BEEKers
The Honey Bee Health Coalition has the paperwork for all treatments. No need to purchase the products to read these.
Who follows Federal law anymore.
You're not wrong
Maybe the neighboring farmer shouldn't follow fed laws on pesticides for his crops either??