The best way to treat for mites

This is without doubt my preferred mite treatment. Going round this yard today the bees look great and there is even some honey in the supers!

[@wstepnout7215]

Peter although I'm a year late watching this video (just started with my first hive last year now 5) I really appreciate your informative and knowledgeable videos. Your videos are on par with the other teaching keepers I subscribe to. Well done cheers from New Brunswick.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Good video

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Thanks, more accurately, maybe I should have said "For me" as I respect what you said in your video!

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

No, you did a good job representing that product and it’s use. Keep up the good work

[@matthewsweeney2577]

Very helpful video 👍 thanks

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

My pleasure

[@johniac7078]

Those hives are looking great, tons of bees. I guess everyone has gone to formic pro now since it has a better shelf life than mite-away strips.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Yes

[@toddhorting4419]

I added the FP treatment between the double brood boxes and after I did it I questioned myself because the fumes drop. I was thinking I should have put it on the top brood box. Any thoughts?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Fumes do drop but bees are fanning furiously and that takes vapors all over hive. You treated correctly.

[@markb3129]

Is it good practice to change up treatments for mites similar to rotation for insecticide in gardens? ✌🏻

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Yes it is.

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Peer have you ever notice the queens shutting down with Formic Pro, staggered treatments 1 at a time pad 10 days apart? Thank you.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Yes Queens shut down for 4-7 days in my view and them copme back really strong on the 14 day treatment....I would expect two shorter shut downs with 2x10day.

[@michaelotto4247]

Can you share your yearly treatment schedule and what you use?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

This varies on circumstance but I find best results treating with Formic Pro about July 15 and Sept 1 then with oxalic acid about Oct 25 and Nov 15 ...depends on weather and varies if samples indicate otherwise.

[@dalestevens4956]

Do you test for mite percentages or do you just treat all hives according to the calendar.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Both. I use sampling to tell me if I need to treat early, but over several years I have found where I deviate from my normal schedule I have lower survival.

[@deanjackson8474]

What percentage of queens do you lose? Out of 12 this year I lost 2 queens. I'm using apiguard on the rest.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

That is a huge variable depending upon circumstances....maybe average 20%

[@RyanFerreri]

@@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer That sounds like a huge risk/expense. So you are re-queening 20% of your hives in the fall, or were those weaker hives you would have combined with others anyway?

[@deanjackson8474]

@@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer Not many options with honey supers on. I follow the instructions including the temperature instructions. Frustrating to lose good queens.

[@wakingupcountry]

New sub. 👋🏽 How long have you been beekeeping? Good info. Thanks for sharing.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Welcome! I have been beekeeping on and off since the 1970's

[@jasonsneeden5934]

How effective is a brood break?

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Can be very effective at lowering mites and make an ideal opportunity to hit mites with the likes of Oxalic Acid

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

Peter how much is that costing you a hive (2 pad)? Thank you.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

About 1/3 that to treat with hopguard! I buy my treatments wholesale but do not publish those prices.

[@rehmangusandapiary9024]

Peter just a bit of feedback from us southerners. You see we speak and hear slowly. As a result we (my wife and I) can not understand you when you state your name. See I said just a bit of feedback! Thanks for your videos!

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

I will cut down on the coffee!!

[@user-nd8sj6fw2k]

What is the medicine name

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Formic Pro

[@AmericansBee]

Didn't you just treat a month ago?

[@AmericansBee]

Ah, I see you said the Hopgaurd was just a knock down. I should have waited to comment. Haha.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

...and it was 6 weeks so even more reason I wanted this in.

[@ncut5547]

I'm guessing u have done a mite check before you treat for mites .

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Yes, but with the number of hives I have treating to a schedule is almost a given.

[@williamsummers6438]

If you change the hive environment by changing its design features you can be varroa treatment free and not need to treat. You just need to make an environment that reduces the varroa replacement value over each generation. This is not so hard. Forget chemicals. Honey bees in Cuba and South America have apparently learned to deal with it. The reason is likely to be that the climate is hot and humid. The question is how far north will it go in Australia. The propensity for varroa to die away in a humid hive was found out by accident when a laboratory hive was accidentally left at a higher humidity than others and that one lost its varroa. The precise mechanism of varroa destruction by humidity remains a mystery. A standard bee hive entrance at the floor level with ventilation at the top causes a cooling stack (or flue) effect internally. This cools the hive in winter and takes away its humidity all year. The temperature difference in winter between inside and out is greater as is the ventilation, when it is not needed, but less so in the summer when it is. Trickle top cross bee entry and ventilation in a beehive causes it to be more humid and also appears to be controllable by the bees, because when the outside ambient temperature falls at night the humidity rises by up to 20% points in a top entry hive. The propensity for varroa to die away in a warm hive is due to the time that a bee pupa takes to hatch which varies between 10 days (35C.) and 15 days (31C.) which depends on when and where it is in the brood nest. A highly insulated external hive envelope serves to keep the brood temperature up throughout the hive and over time, allowing the bees to hatch quicker and therefore for the varroa to not have enough time to mature in the cells. Winter in the UK is varroa breeding heaven, but insulation confounds them and reduces the winter stores consumption to about half, as a bonus. Unfortunately in Australia and USA you have a timber framed housing system generally and do not have an aerated concrete block manufacturing process as we do in the UK. The ZEST hive is made from aerated concrete blocks which have 39 times more Resistance (R) to the passage of heat than a thin walled wood hive has and consequently is functionally free of varroa. If you want to know more about varroa free hive design go to the ZEST web page, and read the free E-Book going to pages 21 to 24 and 50 where the mechanism for varroa free will be revealed. There is a U-tube that you may also want to view titled “Build your own bee hive-heathy bees-zest hive”.

[@BeekeepingwithTheBeeWhisperer]

Interesting

[@philhofland5501]

Not so. Not even close.