Comments on: Thoughts on Varroa Mites

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:11:11 +0000

‘Honey Bee Healthy’ Recipe
5 cups water
2 1/2 pounds of sugar
15 drops each of spearmint and lemongrass oils
1/8 teaspoon lecithin granules
Dissolve the granules in very hot (almost boiling) water and let it cool prior to adding the oils into the mixture. Oils evaporate when the water is too hot. The lecithin is an emulsifier and helps disperse the oils in the water mixture. Oils seem to mix better in honey. This is the standard recipe according to a few website articles I have read about using essential oils, and these are the two oils used in the HBH.
When the bees are fed HBH, they tranfer it into the brood cells. The V Mites either die from it or their eggs cannot mature properly. I have thought about using this on package bees as a spray since it would cause the mites to fall off the bees (slippery suction pads) and possibly kill them on contact or shortly thereafter.
As with any medication, I don’t want to become reliant and over use. This behavior breeds bees that can’t fight it themselves. I do want to give them a running start however. The rest is up to them.

By: seattlecitybees

seattlecitybees — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:53:56 +0000

I just finished reading “A World Without Bees” and got the whole life before Varroa and life after Varroa reality. It’s a scary situation for bees. But I really appreciate your optimism and curiosity. And I agree about medication being a culprit to some weaknesses in bee colonies. The other thing I am interested in (as well as your catching wild swarms and potential inherent resistances) is genetic diversity. Most of the bees available for purchase here in Seattle come from one distributor, and I worry that that limits the bees response to environmental factors. Last year I acquired some Carniolans from another provider, and I am so happy how much better suited to our winters they are. But I have read a lot lately about the new Minnesota bee that is mite resistant to some extent (or totally?), which is interesting and perhaps auspicious, but potentially just another condition. Letting bees do their thing, like swarm, is really one of the only ways out of this fiasco I beleive.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 29 May 2009 05:04:51 +0000

Bill – Thanks for your comments! I don’t mean to be controversial, but I don’t like Terramycin at all. Very harsh stuff, especially on the bees. I am not at all convinced of its necessity. I don’t use it, and I have not had an issue with foulbrood at all. Many of my beekeeper friends don’t use it either. Not to say that you are wrong for using Terramycin, but I don’t see any reason to put chemicals into the beehive in an attempt to prevent a disease which you are not sure your beehive even has.

By: Bill L

Bill L — Sat, 23 May 2009 11:26:03 +0000

At this moment i have 1 Lang going I used to have up to 50 hives wen i was younger. Now living in town i have 1 in the yard. I also have Long Hive that is MT, I am looking 4 a swarm. However said that I am fighting the mites in my lone lang so i will go back to the Apstian strip for a bit. I have never had a Warrre Hive an am just reading on it. As i live in the upper Midwest US ,I need to be concerned for winter over also.
I am very much of a proponent of using Terramycin in a spring feeding where the beez will make comb from the surip, Reason is when YOUNG i knew a fellow who ran into fowl brood an it wasn’t a nice sight. Had to burn everything. These are some thought to consider .
I believe i may build one of these hives over the winter. Bill

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:10:52 +0000

chris – Actually, many beekeepers agree with you, hence the push to use less medications and more natural hive treatments. Some people are pushing for no treatments at all and are just letting the bees be bees. I agree with you, medications cause more problems than they “fix.”

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:40:20 +0000

Marika – Wow, thank you for your kind comments! Very thoughtful.

I started to write a reply to your question, but it got rather long, and I realized that I was writing a new blog post. So, I put it in the blog post area where it should be. You can read Dealing With Varroa Mites In Warre Beehives here.

By: Marika

Marika — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:10:36 +0000

Hi Nick,
I am grateful for all the time & effort put into this site. The Warre hive plans are so detailed and easy to follow. Thank you!

1 question I have re: dealing with varroa mites- with Langs you have a sticky board so you can check on mites – I am wondering how you keep tabs of varroa mite with a Warre hive, and from what I am reading it seems as though one leaves it to nature and are not doing anything to get the mites to drop off the bees, onto a sticky board, etc. Is this correct? and how do you look out for mites and what do you suggest beekeeper w/Warre hive do to keep an eye on those pesky mites?

I will be trying out 2 hives with Warre this season; I was leaning to KTBH’s but am liking the verticality of the Warre – so you were instrumental as there is limited info on Warre out there to help me make this decision.

Many thanks!

Marika

By: chris

chris — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:07:08 +0000

it seems that medicating bees just continues genetic lines of bees that have the least resistance to mites and disease. it seems that refusing to medicate our bees might help more resistance strains emerge.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:42:40 +0000

beemee – Hi beemee! I agree with you. It is important to remember that every beekeeper looks at beekeeping differently. Each beekeeper must make their own decisions about how to keep their bees.

BTW, I personally believe that every beekeeper has something to bring to the table. The more we discuss, the more we can learn from each other.