Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Nyleve on April 27, 2021, 11:48:06 am
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I?m in Central Ontario. Temperatures have been wacky lately - swimsuit weather followed by snow. So it?s hard to know where we are in the season. I wonder if it?s too early to apply MAQS now. Today is gloomy and temperature is currently under 10 C. Expecting rain for the next couple of days. Maybe best to wait until weather is a little warmer with sun? I?m still feeding syrup. Bees are bringing in a lot of pollen probably from trees.
Do I keep feeding? Do I stop feeding and treat? Do I stop feeding and treat and add a honey super?
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I?m in Central Ontario. Temperatures have been wacky lately - swimsuit weather followed by snow. So it?s hard to know where we are in the season. I wonder if it?s too early to apply MAQS now. Today is gloomy and temperature is currently under 10 C. Expecting rain for the next couple of days. Maybe best to wait until weather is a little warmer with sun? I?m still feeding syrup. Bees are bringing in a lot of pollen probably from trees.
Do I keep feeding? Do I stop feeding and treat? Do I stop feeding and treat and add a honey super?
From what I understand both formic and Oxalic can be used with honey supers on. Oxalic just recently passed as far as honey supers on here in America. I read an article concerning this here in America. You may check on this for yourself and let us know your findings. Formic is tricky. Do not use when 85f is my understanding. I would not use it above 75f high personally. Let us know what you decide. Thanks.
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Adding there are other treatment methods with other ingredients. I do not know much about these.
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On the MAQS label it recommends the daytime high be higher than 10C to treat, and I'd assume that means throughout the course of the treatment. I'm also pretty sure it says not to feed while using MAQS, although you can have a honey super on, and you should if the bees have no food. MAQS is safe to use with supers on, although I'm a little uncomfortable with it, so I don't use that honey for human consumption just to be safe. NOD Apiary, the company that makes MAQS and FormicPro, has lots of great info in their FAQ sections for how and when to treat properly.
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If you need to treat I would say go ahead and treat, and keep feeding. The maqs will activate on temperature swings.
Honestly though, where the maqs is supposed to be placed is on the active brood nest. At that spot where active brood is the bees keep it a steady 34-35 degC constantly, regardless of what is going on outside. Unless the hive population is weak and unable to properly regulate the brood nest, practicality says that the outdoor temps really should not matter.
Hope that helps.
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> The maqs will activate on temperature swings.
Honestly though, where the maqs is supposed to be placed is on the active brood nest. At that spot where active brood is the bees keep it a steady 34-35 degC constantly, regardless of what is going on outside. Unless the hive population is weak and unable to properly regulate the brood nest, practicality says that the outdoor temps really should not matter.
Yes, practicality says it shouldn't matter but experts say it does. Perhaps it has something to do with fumes escaping into the outside atmosphere, being this is a temperature sensitive product. Either way I wouldn't recommend chancing it. "If you do not want to be hit by a car do not go stand in the street. If you do not want" a bad formic experience, do as the manufacturers and scientists recommend. Even still caution is advised.
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Thanks for all your advice. I?m going to wait until the weather settles a little more before treating. It?s been stupid cold here for the past week, and rainy too. Bees would be stuck inside maybe for days in this weather - I think they need to be able to go out if the fumes get too much for them. Hopefully next week will see some improvement.