Varroa Mite Problems,… Swinging Another Hammer 🔨

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog

[bobbinnie]

Thanks for a very honest look at things. Very helpful.

[paulrkrueger]

Thank you for being so honest and transparent on your channel.

[krzysztofmieszok]

Dear colleagues. I didn't read all the comments or watched the entire movie with understanding. I can see that you are dealing with a problem that is digesting the world of bees. But I want to share with you some information, confirmed by research.

Smoking Amitraz gives almost nothing if the brood is covered. Waroa is like in a trench. After smoking with Amitraz or oxalic acid in the system 4 times every 4 days, 4x6, 4x8, you kill about 50% of the mites. Consecutive treatments in the same system result in another 50%. So after 8 blows you only kill 75% of the mites.

You have to smoke when there is no brood covered.
So you have to isolate the queens so that they cannot lay eggs and then one treatment with Amitraz kills 97% of the mites. I know you have to have insulators and catch all the queens.
I manage over 1000 hives, my queens lay eggs to the third quarter of nectarizing rapeseed, which is our first commodity crop. The mother is isolated down to the last crops. We have no problem with Warro and no problem with swarm. There is a lot of honey because the larvae do not eat honey, and the bees live very long if they have never fed the larvae and have not produced milk for the larvae. In age these bees are old but physiologically they are young, not tired because they did not feed the larvae.

So far, this is the only way to have honey and bees. Last year, we had a decline of 5 colonies per 1029 hives. 33 hives were connected in spring.

Good luck
I translated via google, hope it is understandable.
Mariusz, Jizera Mountains, Poland

[bryanbetournay]

I ordered Apivar last year. When it came in it had passed the expiry date by one month. I called their customer service and was told that it’s fine and their beekeepers will be using it in their hives. Thanks for your time on all of your videos Ian.

[stevet]

Very thorough run thru of what you are seeing in some of your problem hives. Great to hear its only a few! Well done, awesome video!

[dcsblessedbees]

Swirling works better then shaking, makes less bubbles. 😂"holy shit"🤣That is one of the best things about you Ian🤠you are REAL.👍

[AlBig]

Thanks for being honest with how things are going for you. Sure hope treating with OAV knocks them down for you.

[Bulldogges]

I almost hate giving this a thumbs up if you know what I mean. It's a hard year for mites. Thank you so much for sharing. It's going to be a long winter of

[jmom]

Apivar failed me this year. Sept 3, Put more than enough strips in each hive (if two brood boxes, did 4-5 strips) for their 42 days, hives looked bad like you said, so did OA and had 400+ mite drop over one week - yes, I counted - I am a backyard beekeeper with 12 hives so can do that. Will now be going the extra mile and do full treatment regimen with OA every 5-7 days as my work schedule allows. I feel I should have just did OA all along. Also keeping my fingers crossed for winter…. Good luck and thx for the vids. ❤️🐝🐝 in northern IL.

[HiveBees]

My thoughts go out to you – nothing makes a heart drop quicker than seeing that

[sporkintheeye]

Weird instinct: I realized I was holding my breath when you zoomed in close to a cloud of vapor.

[RonnelVP]

Véto-pharma should be having a few board meetings asap🤔. You might have just nudged a few people standing on the fence about the cause of the high winter loss last season. Thanks for the honest vid Ian. Great reminder to check mites pre and post treatment.

[windyacrebees]

The mite counts here in the northeastern US have been the worst we have ever seen. The only way we were able to knock them down was miteaway quick strips, followed by three weeks of OA. We can only attribute the high load to the drought this year. But apivar, etc. is no longer an option for us now since it just wont work anymore

[zaherham]

Thank you. I can see how you keep things balanced with your bees. Only use chemicals in extreme cases. Give the colony the chance to build up some immunity against mites and diseases.

[hocinebelkhiri]

tres joli video je te souhaite une tres bonne saisons 2023 a plus canadian.

[ThatBeeMan]

Sorry to hear that, boss! OAV will get them. Stay on it!

[svenzethelius]

The good news is that as long as you keep track of which hives need dosing, you can continue to OAV them in the winter shed.

[tonyjenkins]

Got me nervous now… gonna recheck today!

[charleskyler]

I just treated with OA today as well. I pulled out a frame 2weeks ago to remove the Formica Pro patty’s. I was greeted with a newly hatched bee crawling on top of the frame with deformed wings and 3 mite on her back. Highly troublesome.

[graemediesel]

Man, that feels like a punch in the gut.

Now I’m wondering about the strips in my own hives. Time to double down on trying alternative treatments.