BEEKEEPING: An Effective Way to Control Mites Chemical Free

Heads up- it takes precision! Controlling mites is never easy. Controlling mites without chemicals is tough! But, Blake Shook walks us through, step by step, one of the only reliable ways to eliminate mites completely chemical free for small scale beekeepers! Below are the written steps as well!
Drone frame: thebeesupply.c...
Queen isolation frame:thebeesupply.c...
Queen catcher: thebeesupply.c...
Screened bottom board: thebeesupply.c...
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Purchase 1 green drone frame and place it in the bottom brood box and allow the bees to draw out the comb over a few week period. Some feeding may be necessary to encourage the bees to draw the comb.
2. Once the comb is mostly drawn, remove the frame & store in the freezer until you are ready to use it.
3. After honey is harvested, locate & catch the queen in a queen clip OR kill the queen if you plan to requeen.
Leave queen inside the clip or a cage, inside the hive, wedged between two frames in the center of the brood nest for 13 days.
4. On day 13, place the drone frame inside the queen isolation cage in the center of the brood nest & release the queen into the isolation cage.
Let her lay drones in the cage for 10 days.
5. After 10 days, release the queen, remove the drone frame & freeze to kill the mites. Dust the hive with powdered sugar, if you have a screened bottom board. Highly recommended.
6. Test for mites to ensure success (less than 2 mites per 100 bees). Test again in 6 weeks to ensure no additional treatment is needed.
Note- if you don't have a drone frame, this method can work (just not quite as well) substituting a frame of drone brood for a normal frame of worker brood.

[@danno1800]

Your videos are outstanding. I once had 120 beehives and mostly sold honey and queens. I really enjoy how you explain things. I have SUBSCRIBED! Thank you - much appreciated…

[@thebeesupply]

Wow, thank you!

[@Dalebees]

If the queen is caged for that long bees will start queen cells. Might be a good idea to check for qcs before releasing the queen.

[@thebeesupply]

Thankfully, since she is caged still inside the hive, her pheromones will suppress the worker bees from raising new queen cells.

[@mihabukovsek8578]

In our apiary we had the same expirience as Dalebees explain. And we are profesional bekeepers 95 years already. Sorry teoreticly excelent, , but this methode is not usefull at all.

[@JoeLonghornApiary]

What is the right time to do this?

[@thebeesupply]

Most do it after they harvest honey in July/August, but it can be done anytime in the spring/summer.

[@lindagray5857]

What is she going to eat while laying that drone comb?

[@thebeesupply]

The worker bees will feed her normally. They can access the drone comb through the queen isolation cage. The isolation cage is made from queen excluders- so she cannot leave, but worker bees can enter/exit the cage just fine.

[@petrafischer6599]

In that cage for 14 days? With no nurse bees or food?

[@thebeesupply]

The bees take care of her when she's in the cage- there are holes in queen cages for them to reach through and still care for her.

[@gregsmailes4170]

The entire cage is a queen excluder

[@Palestine-Semitic-Canaanites]

What and how queen eats, drinks and excretes?

[@thebeesupply]

The bees take care of her when she's in the cage- there are holes in queen cages for them to reach through and still care for her.