It seems to me in this day and age the forum presents a candy store of information. I am suggesting that doing your homework will make you a better beekeeper. You will own it.
This chatter on formic is worrisome as it is potentially complicated unless you understand the parameters fully.
All I'm saying is most people don't recognize how strong formic is, what dangers it presents for human and bee, evaluation of risk reward, and how do you know if efficacy is worth the risk.
The directions on the packaging indicate using lemongrass. Seems like some people don't even read that. So my point is do some homework and make the knowledge your own, then ask.
Perhaps it just my frustration of teaching people for so long and seeing minimal retention.
There is information and then there is knowledge. Knowledge comes from taking the information you've collected and putting it together in a practical and useful methodology. Understanding the parameters such as how does the treatment work on mites, how many mites do you have, what a wash and a sticky board really represent , what is the total mite count in real numbers not 2 per hundred but estimsting your true load so you can know how well the treatment worked are things you have to sort out for yourself to become adept.
So an example 3 mites per 100 in a hive of 30 000 is potentially 900 surface mites. 80 percent of mite load is under cappings. 10 percent of cappings have mites.
You have 5 frames of brood say 25 000 worker cells so 2500 new mites about to hatch plus your 900 is 3 400 mites. This at 1 per cell, it usually is more. This is just an example numbers may be off a few percentage points.
If your sticky board after a week shows 400 mites you might consider it successful at one level, but reality is you need a second treatment.
Understanding your enemy is key to defeating it.
Why the August rush in mite treating? Why not treat in the early season mid and end with a gentler treatment and keep numbers low? So your not chasing the mites...
By the time August rolls around the temperature is not on your side for formic. May and June would be wiser. The upper range temps of formic make it far more dangerous to bees and not more effective less in fact as the beard outside your hive shows you your treatment is not hitting the target.
So do your homework so you can make a successful strategy for dealing with mites.
Here's your assignment for homework.
How do mites see
How many mites are produced in a cell.
How does formic kill mites
How does oxalic kill mites
How does amitraz kill mites
Does a brood break really work.
What happens to bees after treating?
Do mites generate virus?
What are the negatives about the treatment options.
Here's a great paper on mites with the exception of feeding on hemolymph which has been found in accurate by Dr Samuel Ramsey. They feed on the vitagellin.
https://bee-health.extension.org/varroa-mite-reproductive-biology/Know this and you will become a mitochondriac. Lol cheers.
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