BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > DISEASE & PEST CONTROL

What do you use to treat varroa?

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asleitch:
Hmm, I've open mesh floors too - are you drone cell culling?

Adam

Blackbird:
I haven't heard the term "IPM"' before. I guess I am doing that to some extent. I'm using screen bottom board. Haven't tried drone culling but when I checked a few (6 or so) drone cells I found no varroa there.
Mite drop is fairly low 3 to 12 in a 24 hr period.
I am going to try to difuse some essential  oils into the hive.
I'd like to hear other methods that fall into the IPM category.

Stacie

asleitch:
Varroa prefer drone larvae, as presumable it allows them to breed better.

The standard tecnique for drone cell removal is to insert a super frame into the broodbox, about a third of the way out from the centre - being not at the centre of the hive, they tend to build drone cells of the bottom of this super frame, as it's shorter, it creates a space, and not being in the main area of the hive, they seem more willing to draw it as drone rather than worker.

Every time you examine it, simply slice it off into a bucket. Take it home, and let the birds peck through it. (don't dispose at your apiary) as it attracts birds!

Their is enough other "odd" drone cells in a colony that htis will have not effect on numbers.

Or how about shook swarm?

Take a hive with lots of varroa, shake all the bees into new hive with foundation.

Melt/dispose of the old combs which contain larvae only (with lots of varroa).

You now have a new hive, and the only varroa in it, is those which are on the bees themselves.

About this point the varroa need to breed, and the bees are building foundation.

From another, less infested colony, bring a frame of uncapped larvae across. Mark this frame.

In a couple of days, return, remove and dispose of this frame. Basically, all the varroa on the bees "need" to breed, and foundation, or partially drawn foundation is no good. So having removed all larvae, when you put in a single frame they HAVE to go and use this one frame. It's their only chance of survival. Then you come along and remove it, and in doing so, have almost entirely cleared you hive of the little pests.

Our teaching apiary has been doing this regularly, and it has had negligble effect on end of year honey production. I guess what you loose in the week or two of them drawing foundation, you gain in having better bees with less varroa.

Definately a recommended technique. The Central Science Laboratory in the UK has been doing lots of research on this, and other technqiues. (They are a subsiduary of out Ministry of Agricultre). It just happens, my teacher is employed by the Central Science Laboratory, as a Bee Inspector, and he has the experimental data to prove it works!

Adam

Lesli:

--- Quote from: asleitch ---Hmm, I've open mesh floors too - are you drone cell culling?

Adam
--- End quote ---


Well, with the bee installation only 14 hours old, no. :) However, I did read some Cornell research into using drone comb. Much like what you describe, except that the whole frame is devoted to drone size cells. When it's full (or whever), pull the frame, put it in the freezer to kill everything, then pop it back in the hive.

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