I have ordered two colonies of bees, which will arrive any day. I am concerned about the mites that have destroyed so many bee colonies. I am interested in finding ways to control these pests by organic methods, so that I do not introduce any harmful chemicals into the environment. I would appreciate any tips or comments from readers who have bees, or know more than I do about this topic! Thanks.

-- joyce buck (bdevora@hotmail.com), April 07, 2000

Answers

The mites have wiped out the entire wild bee population as we know it. We have some method of helping the bee's with oils and antibiotics(tetramycin mixed with suger). This method is scary at best for complete protection of the bees. Apistan strips are my method of choice along with tetramycin dusting and patties. We are finding weaker queens genetically with this. I know of a new drug that some are using but the FDA is about to ban it for misuse. They warned us about finding it in sold honey and some didn't listen. I never used it. I'm afraid that in the long run you would lose your bees without apistan but good luck ! Joel

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 07, 2000.

Joyce, while I can appreciate your concern, there doesn't appear to be any "organic" solution to Varroa mites. Do you know how to test for Varroa? If not, a new easy and cheap way is described in the most recent "Bee Tidings" online newsletter from the University of Nebraska. The topic of "organic" treatment has been beaten to death on the Bee-L newsgroup by both research entomologists and some extremely sharp commercial operators world-wide, and the overwhelming consensus is that you can either treat your hives with the approved medications or you can watch them die. Just be sure to follow the directions on the Apistan package, do not leave the strips in longer than the recommended time, and do not treat while you have any honey supers on your hives. Leaving the strips in longer than the recommended time apparently encourages mites to develop resistance to the fluvinate, which endangers all of us who keep bees. That's what I've been told; your mileage may vary...

-- Rog (flanders@probe.net), April 07, 2000.

TEST FOR MITES--Take a canning jar(with cap) and place 1 handful of bees in jar(about 1 hundred bees). Spray a short shot of ether(starting fluid for autos) in jar. Mites(if present) will appear on jar sides as black dots(looks like the end of a pencil lead). The bees choke out the mites with their dying breath since the mite lives in their airway. Africanized bees seem more resistent to these creatures than the Italion bees but both are at risk !

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 07, 2000.

I have a good web site for bee information but I am on webtv. If you send me an e-mail than I can forward it back. Sorry Stan--wasn't thinking before or I would have sent it ! It has the latest info from top bee-keepers. Keep in mind that beekeepers are a very strange lot of people. Finally --I realize what I am.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 07, 2000.

An alternative to the classic "ether roll" technique Joel has described can be found at: http://ianrwww.unl.edu/ianr/entomol/beekpg/tidings/btid2000/btdjan00.h tm#Article2

Quoting from the article: "...Paula Macedo, a University of Nebraska Graduate Student, found a new way to check colonies for varroa that is more efficient than ether roll. In addition to being more efficient, it is not necessary to kill bees to conduct the test. "You will need the following: "A wide mouth canning jar (quart or pint) with two-piece lid. #8 mesh hardware cloth (or any other mesh that will retain the bees while letting varroa pass through). "Window screen (or any other fine mesh hardware cloth that will let powdered sugar pass through but retain varroa. "Retain the metal ring that comes with the two-piece lid, and discard the center portion. Cut a circle of #8 mesh hardware cloth to fit inside the ring. Collect 200-300 bees in a wide mouth pint or quart canning jar. Add powdered sugar to the jar through the #8 mesh lid (enough to coat the bees, 1 tsp. to 1 tbsp. should be adequate). Roll jar around to distribute the sugar. Allow the jar to sit for a few minutes while you collect additional samples. Then invert the jar and shake to recover the mites. The bees will remain in the jar, and the mites and sugar will pass through to a piece of paper. The sugar will make it difficult to count the mites. You can pour the sugar and mites into another jar with a fine mesh lid. Shake again and allow the sugar to escape. Then, dump the mites on a clean sheet of paper and count them. A brief shaking will usually recover 70% of the mites. If you persist a little longer you can recover 90%. "We can think of three possible reasons for the efficacy of this technique: "Varroa mite legs have a sticky pad called the empodium that helps them adhere to their host. The presence of powdered sugar could make it difficult for mites to adhere to their host. "Powdered sugar stimulates the bees' grooming behavior. "The powdered sugar on the mite's body stimulates mites to release from feeding to groom themselves. Let us know how it works for you. It may be a problem in a windy Nebraska bee yard, but it works well in a lab." (I usually hesitate to quote someone else's writing at such length, but I know the author, Dr. Marion Ellis at UNL, wants to get the word out on this...and I have my state income tax return sitting on my desk, so I figure I'm paying for part of it!)

-- Rog (flanders@probe.net), April 08, 2000.

Wonderful technique has been described above ! I learn something new everyday. I am going to try both methods next time and compare results. If the suger works --I would much rather use your method. Virginia Tech has been doing some wonderful research on a group of wild bees they found in a tree in our county. Maybe, just maybe, the bees have fixed theirselves. We are watching with our fingers crossed for the report due out this month.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 08, 2000.

Joyce,

having a 100 hives might be difficult to 'experiment' with organic methods, especially when that many hives means you are in the business. These people do not have the time or resources to 'experiment' with organic methods.

Me on the other hand :) have all the time in the world..so to speak. Ima the beekeeper, well Ima was until her husband C.A. Gardener took one look inside, fell in love and took my hobby over! We just placed 2 hives in an area that has rosemary all around to see if the bees that frequent rosemary would have a noticable decrease in verroa mites. These 2 hives came from a grouping of 20 we have in a caynon about 1/2 mile away. Not that that is a fair test or anything being so close but nevertheless, this year we will not put apistan in these 2 hives and come next spring we will check them again.

I also want to move 2 more hives down farther in the canyon and try using peppermint oil and vegetable shortening mixed and smeared at the hive entrance. Hoping that the shortening/mint gets all over them and with the bees cleaning themselves off it may help.

I also saw a machine in BeeCulture for sale that heats vinegar and then blows the vinegar steam into the hive. C.A. and I are still talking about the $395.00 this costs (I just bought a milking machine for the goats), and since Ima the sensible one in the family I need more information then an ad, C.A. likes gadgets.

If you have other ideas, sites or information please post or e-mail me. I too really want to find an organic solution to this problem.

Ima Gardener

-- Ima Gardener (ima@gardener.com), April 12, 2000.