I Didn't Treat My Bees, I Didn't See Any Mites / Importance Of Varroa Mite Management

I did a visual inspection for varroa mites and do not see any, so I am not doing a mite treatment! I hear this so often anymore from new beekeepers. I am not sure they understand the importance of managing mites, yet alone what they even look like. In this video, I discuss mites, mite counts and treatments.

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[wittencreekbeez]

Good video specially for new beeks such as myself. Heed the warning! My mentor stressed the importance of the alcohol wash and treating. My mite loads were very low and reported back. I was surprised when I was advised to still treat. Lo and behold after treatment there were dead mites on the bottom board and not on the bees!

[sharonriley]

Hey Jason, I wholeheartedly agree, Treat for mites!!! To my sorrow and considerable expense some years ago I had been told by ORGANIC
BKs not to treat for mites and ended up loosing most hives overwinter a couple of years running. I talked to a commercial BK and he asked about my mite treatment, showed me how to do an alcohol wash, I tried it and indeed had a bad infestation. I became a believer! Thanks great video!
Rick in Pa.

[timcaron]

Hi Jason, great info and video.  As a new bee keeper I was not offended in any way with it.  You provided us with a list of fantastic approaches to treating the hives; even your readers also provide valid info.  Thanks a lot.  Take care and Bee Safe.   Tim

[peterlightbody]

Very informative, thank god we don't have mites in Australia, small hive beetle we do, enjoy your videos Jason, easy to understand, I still think you should think about writing a book some day, take care Peter Australia.

[BlaineNay]

If you can see a mite by simply looking at a frame with bees, your mite count is way out of control.

[pianobee]

Thanks Jason. If I had only watched this one year ago. Fortunately the treatment with oxalic acid in late October was effective (brood rearing) and my families survived the winter in a very good shape.

[jodygucwa]

Great video Jason. The only good mite is a dead mite.

[AkomKeseTV]

Agree 100 percent. I lost all my bees the first year. Did not do mite checks at all or treat. They were strong going in the winter. I suspect I lost them early because I had about 30 lbs of honey.

[darlenebradley]

Very good information, however we need to be finding less chemically dependent ways to manage this....I can't help but think we may also be strengthening the mites while we weaken the bees in much the same way overuse of antibiotics have created super germs that are resistant to an ever growing number of bacteria.

[tonywestsbees]

I agree! Get the mites under control or you will loose the hive to the viruses they vector yo the bees. If you see a mite while inspecting your hive, your mite load is already at 5% or more. Good job Jason.

[davidsachs]

Another consideration with what treatment to use is when you have the time. Different treatments are most effect at certain times of year.

Treatments for varroa mites ussally also real with other types of mites in the colony

Honey Bee Health Coalition. has videos on using different mite treatments.

[kwil]

Great video Jason (as usual). I believe that the teaching (philosophy) of mite treatment is wrong, consider this: We say that you need to check for mites and then treat, I believe this is backwards, a new beekeeper may or may not check correctly and feel he/she does not need to treat based on the count. I believe and teach to perform a count the day after the treatment. Think about it, if all hives have mites, and they certainly do, then I am going to treat regardless of the count (which definitely has a accuracy curve) just to do all I can to ensure the hives survival. This will instill the importance of treating similar to many other aspects of beekeeping that are essential.Another problem is our bee inspectors, I was just visited by mine (possibly the same one you have) and I told him that I still needed to perform another treatment and he commented "I didn't see any evidence of mites in your colonies." I know we have the same feelings regarding county bee inspectors.

[aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I hinge on Apivar, then follow in the late fall with OAV, great product rotation.
What’s your threshold at this time of year?

[houstonsheltonbees]

Great information brother 👍 thanks for recommending this. God bless buddy

[DouglasPFresh]

Treat now by splitting hive with a poly board for 15 mins or treat in 2 weeks when I pull honey?

[toddachten]

I will be building my pro-vap tonight. i am going to add a cooling fan to move air across the heat sync and SSR as soon as I can find a cheap IC to operate the 12v fan. Even with the rod of aluminum and PTFE rod, I will probably have right around $100 invested plus my machine time on my lathe (less than an hour). Sure beats $485 online!

[thecolburnfarm]

cant wait for the pro vaporizer video i been thinking on how to build my own myself, 500 is way to much, i do use the electric vaporizer now and do like it, but i do only have 4 hives, some use a fogger but having to mix acid with alcohol seems like a lot of work but they fog a hive fast, its only my third year keeping bees and found out quick because of guys like you that you need to treat or your bees will die. i do use the screened bottom board and like that, if i see one mite i tell myself its to many in the hive. i sprinkled powdered sugar over the hive and covered the bees once then the next day checked the inspection board and think it works great, great video

[mikeschickensandgarden]

I don’t have bees yet, I plan on them in the next year or 2. I’ve been watching your channel for awhile and I have a lot of respect for your knowledge. I’m in northeast Ohio so I pay close attention to your winterizing videos. Keep up the good work.

[linebergster]

I dissolve oxalic acid and water and paint interior of bottom board in spring, do half treatments of mite away two weeks on, two off. Switch to oxalic paper towels with food grade mineral oil two weeks on, two off. I clean and soak frames with oxalic solutions before I add new foundation wax. Mite away half treatment going into fall

[herberthilliker]

Thank you Jason for all your hard work I really appreciate that My name is Ray and I’ll keep watching