Varroa Mite is Here To Stay - Australia Moving To Management | The Bush Bee Man

[@KayiFarmJaHoneyBees]

Hey BBM, never doubt you will surely be ahead in this fight. Just take this time to monitor your hives to understand your colonies that manage the mites throughout your seasons. Breed from queen that show better mite management. Randy Oliver has this program in place where any colonies that results in 5+ consecutive mite washes of zero in the season become breeder queens. But remember to still maintain diversity, so choice many breed queens. it's not a quick fix but a race for the consistent beekeeper.

[@michelleadams1210]

Thanks Mark, at least you've been looking at this situation in a PROactive way. I appreciate your time and effort in seeking out and sharing useful info for us all. Go have a beer now!! Cheers!!

[@mickbennett4742]

Cheers Mark your work is Very Much appreciated indeed, I personally have learnt a lot from you, I only have two hives but so far so good for my first season, keep smashing away and with a bit of Aussie luck we will all get through this I'm in Tassie but from SA out thoughts are with you Guys big time.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Great job on the radio

[@roydontully3196]

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response

[@andrewcochrane6637]

VARROA THEN, I'm sure you are aware of finding Ecrotek Beekeeping in NZ on youtube, best place I'v found for info on varroa. I'm just a backyarder in southen VIC but going to look after them, wish you all the very best. Andrew,

[@jotttn]

Varroa is easily managed but it just means quite a bit more work especially if you have many hives

[@lorriebuxton2041]

How many years have you been dealing with varroa

[@SuperSjodin]

I have been beekeeping for 3 years in the US and it is something you can control. Don't get me wrong, it sucks. It can be done.

[@jonshannon3394]

Hate to see this. I've read a couple of things that suggest your feral bees may bounce back faster than ours did in the US, but it'll be chaos for awhile. Hang in there. Love your posts.

[@kathyw6635]

Since the mites have already migrated there and are there to stay, it would be wise to introduce some of the mite resistant lines of bees there too. A lot of work has already been done in other part of the world on dealing with varroa mite, so you don't have to start from zero.

[@vernakruckow6968]

Just tracked David at Barnyard Bee's as he seems to have a good handle on varroa treatment. He lies in between 34 and 35 degrees north, so if we translate that to the southern hemisphere, it's the line from Wollongong, Griffiths, Mildura, Adelaide, Port Lincoln and Albany. So anyone along that line would pretty much have a lot of the groundwork done for them. They just need the powers that bee, to get their finger out and get some treatments authorised

[@joshuablack398]

Wasn't much of a 'fight' when they allowed hive movements. As soon as that decision was made to look after the big players, there was no hope of eradication. Varroa is a disaster everywhere else in the world, it won't be any different here. The selfishness of some people is disgraceful

[@jimholmes964]

There were certain Instagram sites where they deliberately worked against the DPI, including suggesting people hide their hives. There would've surely been illegal hive movements. I am 100% with you.

[@Dlgeis]

Movement didn’t matter. Drones don’t stay in a home hive. They are accepted in any hive and use different hives on a regular basis. Drones spread varoa like wildfire. You can remove 100% of the drone comb in a hive during drone season and you will still end up with drones from other hives.

[@lorriebuxton2041]

Except their range isn't that far but yes it's over

[@markvreeken]

Very true. I have only been beekeeping for a couple of years with Flow hives and I am not looking forward to what the future brings. I'm not sure how i feel about feeding any honey from a treated hive to my grandchildren. Thats going to require a bit of thought on my part. A pox on the houses of those responsible for importing this disaster. The worst part of that is we have no doubt already "compensated " them for their criminal act. Selfish bastards indeed.

[@amandawilcox1629]

Over here in NZ we monitor them regularly and know they are hard to rid of. So the regular testing and treatments keep them at bay. It helps to have a strong hive with a good queen. The Verroa mite likes to bed into the drone cells as they are deeper for the mite to bed into.

[@riaandewinnaar5040]

South African bees are aggressive cleaners and also swarm regularly. Varroa mite is not a problem here. We are not allowed to treat.

[@martasoltyszewska9458]

Biggest change is in beekeepers minds, and investing more time to treat the problem …

[@amandawilcox1629]

do the sugar shaker test once a week. I do that here in New Zealand

[@billmeek4777]

At least you don't have to contend with our Canadian winter to,,,, and there are varamite resistant bees raised in Alberta , Canada, I have one hive of them and three swarms and I know that's not many but have easily controlled varamites with Oxcilic acid 4 days apart 4 times ,,,spring and fall only ,,, you'll figure it out,,good luck

[@rafadiezdom]

My hives in Spain have been without varroa for 8 months only using the technique of smoking the hive from the inside. You have to do it at night, when the entire population is inside the hive for 21-28 days, you can use eucalyptus, oregano, laurel...

[@mattoliverau]

I wonder if we need to start breeding for not just calmness but also hygiene and see if we can get a good strain of bee that will groom and remove the pesky blighters. The Asian honey bee can deal with em because they groom enough, maybe we need to get our European bees we use as keepers to do the same... if possible. Hasn't hit vic yet either, but yeah not looking good. I'm only a newbee keeper, so looks like my learning curve has just sky-rocketed!

[@lorriebuxton2041]

I have recommendation aoxalic acid and formic pro here in new Hampshire we have had varroa since the seventies thank you Italy been bee keeping six years fed up with scientists doing nothing don't worry be happy

[@martasoltyszewska9458]

Beekeeper from USA- you will adjust, there are many methods of dealing with mites and we have good experience to share… there is still hope for pure honey with no chemicals… brood break is the key to success and if needed - testing with Ixakix Acid vapors during broodless periods.

[@rhondasavva2500]

The problem here is most of Australia we don’t get a brood break so we will need to create on so we can treat

[@joshuahunt5924]

Good day Bush Bee Man

[@hellhole7422]

Just as I Re-Queened my 5 hives they changed the strategy. Was talking to the wife as soon as I got the email from DPI about the Varroa, was wondering if we should keep our hives or get rid of them..

[@kathysarmcandy1992]

It's not that bad. Assuming you have access to treatments. I treat twice a year, maybe a third on a problem hive, as a matter of maintenance. Additional costs, of course.

[@SuperRiverRat1]

I offloaded my 8 hives a year ago. I suspected it would be a lost cause as the new sites just kept adding on. As much as I enjoyed the bees, they weren't getting the attention they deserved and adding the extra effort of dealing with another pest was a deal breaker. I wish all those who remain in the hobby or work in the industry a swift adjustment to the unwelcome pest.

[@shadmorgan5491]

Onya Mark, ya gnarly ol' bassid😇 A hand up? Run smaller sites yes, just not 20, more, but what you can get around in 5hours. Run "biotechnical" IPM streams cycling 50% of the site on each visit - like what you do to one half you reverse what you did last time on the other half. So whilst one half is on broodbreak the other is in production. Use those new flash queen restrictor frame cages from Poland, the three frame version loaded with green drone frames, mostly...you'll work through choices as you determine numbers for each colony. More on Honeybee Beekeeping Challenges (Phartbouke). And always remember..... the phoretic mites are always "out there" so regardless of how much chemical you throw at them one day they will return the next, true swaggies - broodset uis where the control is at, not walking bees. This is the part the Seppos have totally balls'd up. Cya 'round Brother.... Shad

[@gabbyb7342]

I'm pretty pissed at NSW DPI because there was too many lies about how long varroa was here, how it got here. Good bye Australia honey like we used to know it.

[@rhondasavva2500]

That ‘s maybe because of how it got here was a lie. The person who started this should have told the truth as soon as it was traced back to them.

[@gabbyb7342]

Exactly and now it's all about big business so they are going to let it go everywhere @@rhondasavva2500

[@jman414999]

Well welcome to the nasty part of beekeeping. Here in states, New England is treating for mites before winter. Good luck.. Its more work.

[@paulajones4999]

It costs money for the treatments but if you don’t do it you loose your hive. You don’t need to monitor all the time just treat the mites twice yearly. It can be done but it will be a gear change for the australian beekeeping community.

[@billmeek4777]

Yes ,, as a Canadian bee keeper,, you must just ,, manage the varamites, there are many treatments both chemicals and natural,,, at least you can look at what everyone else has done and it won't take years of testing, we've had them for years 😔 and they are there to stay,, suck it up and start managing them now ,,,, actually you have to test nurse bees

[@JodyMarais-g1v]

Hey Mark, our honey bees in South Africa are the same as yours. Our bees have control over the veroa. Surely you could import some bees..

[@patrickmcauley151]

Something simple will work for v might like cinnamon or nutmeg dust gets the bees into higher cleaning mode orEucalyptus leaves or oils in the hives only a gesture got to start somewhere

[@jasontokoph]

The shop link in all of your video descriptions is missing the /shop before /honey, so the link doesn't work.

[@Dstick1Spearfishing]

I do get the feeling we have two camps in Aus re the Bees. Those that earn money from providing bees for pollination, and those bee keepers that are producing honey and want to keep the honey chemical free to earn their money. The issue we have is so many drones in spring and wild hives are not out friends, but you can see from the map that bees with mite have turned up in weird places well away from ground zero. There are a few folks that have clearly done us a mischief, not intentionally. We are probably going to have to look to NZ on how they managed them. Nice interview, Well done. Wishing you and John much success facing the on slaught. You need to contact that old WA premier and close the borders! Stay safe, have fun! 🐝🐞🔫

[@DavidImerman]

Couldn’t agree more with you. The little guys will very quickly be overwhelmed with the amount of work required to manage. The once a month check plus the chemicals will no doubt have an impact on them for sure. The bigger ones such as ourselves with a couple of hundred hives will also feel the pinch but as we all transition into regular checks ourselves at lease there’s a bit more capital to sort out our stash of bees so they don’t fall victim like the wild swarms. I met an amateur beekeeper the other day. She doesn’t follow anything the DPI say to do. Hasn’t done tests, nothing. She reckons in her head that the bees with become resistant to the mite. I told her quite simply if you believe that then you have piles of dead bees by the end of the year. Mites breed and the breed quite well quite quickly. Quicker when there’s drone brood to feast on too. The world is a giant Petri dish for all the Varroa mistakes and also fixes. The Texan BeeWeaver breed is the only one on earth that I know of that has resistive traits. I wonder if the government will be smart and import a whole bunch of their queens to see if they can recreate a zero varroa country once more. As you know we wouldn’t need 1000,s. After one season we’ll have more than we’ll ever need. It’s worth a shot. The wild swarms days are numbered but the beehives for pollination and or amateur beekeepers should have a queen swap just to see in my opinion.

[@JodyMarais-g1v]

Don't use chemicals. South Africa has stronger genetics.

[@gerardmoran2774]

It's just like treating parasites in any other livestock. Unfortunately you will never completely eliminate them , but with a couple of treatments per year at the correct time they will not be a major problem. That has been my experience here in Ireland and I have been keeping bees for the past 10 years.

[@tonybaker1295]

The fight never really started. NSW DPI dropped the ball.

[@Blackheathenly]

It was Federal Biosecurity that failed everyone.

[@lenturtle7954]

And if you dont check every hive you might not know you have them . And even checking you might not find any until counts are higher mean while you have spread infected brood around in your yard 😮

[@farmer998]

no use in testing after you determine you have mites after you have them what does it matter ,you have them just operate accordingly .

[@kevinogden4363]

Here in the states there are many feral colonies surviving despite varroa mites, I'm sure you've seen all the swarm catching videos here on KZbin. I'm just a hobby beekeeper, that's treatment free, and have been sustainable for going on 5 years.

[@AwesomeFish12]

It was inevitable. Now we just have to take it as it comes and hope they give the green light to all of the organic control methods that the good old Kiwis, Canadians and denizens of the USA have tried and proven to be effective.

[@paulajones4999]

Varroa can be managed we have done this since the early nineties in the UK with different controls. It works but obviously our bees have developed better behaviour in response to the threat. That being said the treatments are very invasive and kill some bees but the hive is saved.

[@lenturtle7954]

Check the drones for mights They are the big spreader

[@Darren_Nicola]

It’s not doomsday I’m confident you will be fine 🇬🇧

[@allanmorgan5660]

The inefficient test for mites will not capture a small infection .one mite on any hive will cause infection to spread and you still may not find it

[@sentimentalbloke7586]

It's always all about NSW isn't it? Its like other states just don't exist, and since they let it loose are we able to sue them?

[@johniac7078]

Hang tough BBM, varro resistant bees ar tin the works and the management techniques do the job. Make sure to do your mite checks.

[@rhondasavva2500]

Definitely it’s going to bee shit. New era beginning for all beekeepers that we should not be going into. But alas here we go. Good luck Mark

[@brettellis1837]

12 weeks the bees will not know what hit them.

[@DNADirekt]

Get a Oxalic acid Vaporizer. It's good shit!

[@dp.2766]

There’s no way to stop them. I’ve been keeping a few hives for 3 years now and researched for over a year before starting. There are guys who don’t treat at all, and guys who use several different methods at the same time to research what works best. I have followed 628 DirtRooster and Jeff Horchoff as they are close to my geographical area here on the Gulf Coast. They don’t treat, and also do a good bit of removals and swarm collection. It seems like the populations that are more susceptible to the disease carried by the mites die off and you propagate the stronger ones and there you go. We also have small hive beetles here, those are lots of fun too… they ca fly up to 50 miles from what I heard, an mak a mess of a weak hive pretty fast. No way to stop them either…. Just have to keep moving onward through the fog Hoss!

[@dp.2766]

P.S. saw a video on varroa from England. A fellow who didn’t treat for mites claimed that he had a much lower loss rate and a university did a study. The long and short is that of the 2 major viruses that were common in the region , his bees had developed a resistance to one virus, and by basically not killing off the varroa that he had, he seemingly kept other varroa out and his bees adapted. If you have several yards you might try experimenting over the next few years. I’m sure there’s a university nearby that would love to work with you. I only treat when I get a new nuke or package. Never treat older hives. Drought got me this year. No food killed all but one hive. SHB is much more of a threat here.

[@andidhamo583]

Cross-breed with apis cerana or raise apis cerana

[@markhiggins3054]

Choice was to do their job! Not good enough.

[@hkdshkds8235]

Did you consider the Puerto Rican Bee? Gentle Africanized honey bee.. I have never ever treated them and I never see barely any.. not as gentle tho 😂

[@rtxhoneybees]

I think your biggest challenge will be getting treatment approvals from your authorities. They dont have a good track record. Anyone who uses OA vapor effectively here in the states has to bend the rules a bit. Thats hard to share on a popular KZbin channel. Good Luck to you.

[@t_4178]

Oxalic Acid Vaporizer 180W 12V Oxalic Acid Atomizer for Beekeeping Equipment

[@SteveMayne-z7n]

Your lucky is SA we had to wipe out our bees even though we had no mites. It was poorly managed regarding the massive wipeout zones. People were dishonest about having hives, lied saying they had done washes, moved bees who shouldn't. Its up to us now to manage. There are lots of ways to manage chemical free.

[@benjaminfalzon4622]

What's the point of destroying thousands of commercial hives in an attempt to eradicate the Verona mite if the Verona mite could be transmitted by the wild bee population as well?

[@Blackheathenly]

Varroa

[@christynm.8933]

POWDERED SUGAR WILL BECOME YOUR BEST FRIEND..I REGULARLY DUST MY BEES + USE STICKY BOARDS. BEES ARE AMAZING, RESILIENT LADIES..THEY CAN WITHSTAND LOSSES OF THOUSANDS OF WORKER BEES AND STILL RECOVER! 😉👏 ❤🐝

[@timfeckley1689]

The way I see it there’s 2 choices get rid of the bees or prepare for the war and that will be dictated by your weather. Oxalic acid,Formic acid,apiguard will be the management items that will keep your operation afloat if they are allowed by Australia’s government

[@allanmorgan5660]

Call for a Beekeepers varroa fighting fund .to stop complacency and non conforming Beekeepers becoming the breeding grounds for infection of other hives .tools and funding to ensure it's not a cost to industry which it can't afford. . proactive not reactive

[@Дон-у2и]

Муравьинку

[@jacktrade5122]

I wonder if the mite was debility introduced,, I wonder what country its native too ????

[@jimholmes964]

Most likely came off a container ship. During covid, many ships were at anchor for weeks at end. Originally an Asian bee pest - now most countries.

[@roydontully3196]

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response

[@richardnoel3141]

Did I just hear you say “ going to have to change the way we manage our hives, 6 monthly checks to once a month?

[@jimholmes964]

Not sure about regulations yet - we're all at sea inc. the authorities. What is going to work against us is with temperate Australia, no real brood-break. Varroa will hit us hard. (jimandthebees)

[@beekeeperkev]

I hope Mark was talking about mite check Richard. The thing Australia has is access to all the treatments available and no mite resistance to deal with.

[@richardnoel3141]

@@beekeeperkev Thanks, yes . May be.!

[@grantjackson3951]

Mite check every 16 weeks

[@roydontully3196]

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/emergencies/biosecurity/current-situation/varroa-mite-emergency-response

[@joansutherland5261]

Why not import queens from countries that have bee populations that have varroa resistance in America and giving our requeened hives a better survival chance.

[@richardnoel3141]

There is actually only slight varroa resistance and no matter what anyone says or tells you you cannot buy commercially bred queens yet. There are many ways bees deal with mites, VSH that could/can give up to 28/30% mite resistance and other methods the bees use UBO (unhealthy brood Odour) We all have to treat here in some way or another. You can build a Varroa resistant yard and it’s possible, but your losses are massive and your bees will suffer and so will your yields initially. You have to constantly remove the non resistant and breed from them. It takes many years and if you let the bees swarm or open mate often it’s all lost in to the either. It’s a complete and constant pain. Look at IPM in honey bees. Integrated pest management.

[@bones7208]

Got nothing to do with controlling food production and we need gv so much they just save everyone.

[@MortalBane]

Watch out there's bees behind you! They might sting you!!!!

[@ApiFractal]

Once your feral colonies sadly get wiped out, the genetics that will be spread from the remainder will be beneficial to all managed hives. The only downfall will be the same thing that happens genetically everywhere else with or without varroa; keepers keeping colonies alive that would so easily be wiped out by natural selection and those genes also spreading. Over here in the states some beekeepers are better at keeping varroa than they are bees and that does no one any favors...

[@waidebuckingham2880]

That's what happens when you buy bees from new Zealand

[@amandawilcox1629]

Cheek! I`m a beekeeper in NZ. Not cool man

[@stuartking2335]

Costs equals shit 😉😒

[@nathanmcgrath9038]

Just use Asian bees

[@benjaminfalzon4622]

Get Chris Bowen on the job, if Bowen can fix the climate, the Verona Mite will be history.

[@Blackheathenly]

Varroa

[@claudesully]

I live in South Dakota, USA and we have brutal winter here and the bees stop brooding during this time. I treat with oxalic acid (OA) monthly throughout this broodless period and it has been working so far. I have tried Apivar with little success, so I am going to continue with the OA until the smart guys are able to figure this out. Note: I still have about 25% loss during the winter months. I have been doing a replacement and expansion session each spring so I can keep up with the losses and still keep expanding the business. I must admit the spring nucs have been reducing my honey production, however I would rather give up some honey to keep the apiary alive and thriving.🥸🥸🥸🥸🥸

[@seanphillips5745]

Look into Russian honeybees