It is true however that killing the mites in colonies destined to die anyway My guess is it feels like that to you too. To me that seems like throwing your treatment time and money to the wind. Simply killing the mites when you finally get around to it means you have, in effect, willingly let the mites inflict fatal damage on the colony - then you get your revenge by killing the mites - laterthe colony dies. So with that intention (saving the colony) in mind we must look at things differently.
My intention when I treat is not to kill the mites but rather to save the colony - I of course must kill a good portion of the mites to do this (except in the most resistant colonies that keep the mites down themselves and are left untreated for further testing toward HIP breeder status).
This is, of course, true if the purpose is simply killing the mites. You undoubtedly recall that Apistan treatment was initially advised duringĪ broodless period - thus the mites would be on the bees and the treatment would give rapid and near 100% kill of Varroa mites. Perhaps you already know what I am about to tell you. I think I can offer some insight into why late treatment often fails to prevent high loss. "I treated them and they still died - what gives?" is thought then spoken aloud to others that did the same. The lesson - make sure the bees make contact with a contact miticide or it does no good spending the timeīut isn't there more to it than that? What about the high losses experienced by those that did put the strips in contact with the cluster after taking off the honey from the Fall flow? Shouldn't treating then insure there is less brood for the mites to hide in thus making for quicker and more nearly complete mite kill? Isn't that what we've been told dozens of times? Lots of beekeepers that put new strips in after a great Fall flow are left scratching their heads when a quick peek sometime November - January shows over half the colonies dead and the bulk of the survivors looking like they don't stand a chance either.
Dead colonies with four strips (2 per Deep box) in them (put right where the old Apistan directions said to put them) and a thoroughly discouraged ex-beekeeper to boot. I have bought used equipment and the few remaining live colonies from folks that had, in effect, left their colonies untreated by putting the strips in late and where the cluster made no contact with them. Hundreds of Styles at Everyday Low Pricesĭiscounts from updated daily.
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