ok,,, ben reading up on varroa mites,,, seems thats what my hives have. So,, without useing chemicals, I know how to knock em off the bees,, and Im supposed to trap them,, with sticky trap. What is it,, and why do some say to use crisco??

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 20, 2001

Answers

Stan, considering how varrioa mite invested your hive, or hives is ? apistan strips may be needed, if not, in 2 , 3 months you will not have bees. by the time you have knocked the mites off the bees, the damage is done. the larva is attacked in the capped brood cells. vegtable shortening is used in patties with trimician & powered sugar to treat & prevent foul brood. an easy test for the mite, weather permitting going into the brood chamber. pull out drone larva, the rusty colored mites are easy to spot on the white larva. join a bee club, talk to others who have had similiar problems. Larry

-- Larry in OK (Nuts4bees@aol.com), February 21, 2001.

Stan,mix Crisco with sugar to form a pattie.Place this over the brood nest.I put these in a paper plate.The grease from the pattie coats the mite,interferes with breathing and kills them.Doesn't hurt the bees. There is also another mite to watch for.The tracheal mite.There are non chemical treatments for these as well.Treatment involves soaking paper towels in a mixture of peppermint oil and vegetable oil then placing these over the brood nest.mix is 5-6 cc of peppermint per cup of veg oil. There is a website for this.I will look it up and post it later today.

-- JT in Florida (gone2seed@hotmail.com), February 21, 2001.

I know the trick about thr tracheal mites, but I use menthol cyrstals melted in veg oil, soak paper towels in it,, ans place one towel in the hive, the bees chew it, and cough up the mites. But there is supposed to be a way to trap the mites with crisco, oil on paper

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 21, 2001.

I had not heard about the trap.If you find out more,how about posting the info for the rest of us. Address for the non-chem treatment is http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa.htm

-- JT (gone2seed@hotmail.com), February 21, 2001.

ok,, heres the website I got it from

http://www.farminfo.org/bees/bees-m.htm

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 21, 2001.

Stan.

Unfortunately, there is no effective non-chemical treatment developed yet for varroa mites. Without using chemicals you will undoubtedly lose your colonies and may promote the spread of the mites to other local colonies, thereby inflicting damage on your fellow beekeepers. The traps are only for detection, not eradication. Grease is no use against varroa. If you have a varroa infestation and do not treat it according to department of agriculture rules, you may be adding to a serious nationwide and worldwide threat to agriculture. Since bees can forage up to five miles from the hive, what you do with your own hives can and will have a direct impact on other hives and the livlihood of other beekeepers. Varroa is becoming resistant to Apistan. Some states have enacted emergency authorization for the use of coumaphos, another chemical in strips manufactured by Bayer. These are more hazardous to use that Apistan and a lot more expensive. If you can find it, formic acid is also an effective treatment, but is also a hazardous substance. It is a natural chemical (produced by ants). R&D is being conducted to produce formic acid in a form that is safe to use by the layman. It has been used in the past before Apistan, but can cause serious health problems in people if not handled safely.

I respect your desire to be chemical free, but if you absolutely oppose the use of chemicals, then you may need to quit beekeeping until natural remedies are developed, such as a new strain of hygienic bees which can rid themselves of the mites. Research is being done at several universities in the US and probably elsewhere in the world. Don't think that commercial honey producers and pollinators don't care. They care very much. Treatment is very expensive and the threat to worldwide agricultural production is very serous if the varroa mite cannot be controlled or eradicated. Remember: no honey bees=no pollination=no crops=worldwide starvation.

I strongly encourage you to join a local bee club and to also register your hives with your state department of agriculture.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 21, 2001.

Im looking for the info on the trapping of the mites. There are plenty of non chemical ways of knocking the mites off the bees, but without a trap,, they can climb back on any passerby. A site I was reading (above) says something about using oil to trap,, the question is,, what is this trap? has anyone heard of this before. As to getting out of beekeeping because of the mite,, thats not an option,, there are plenty of other ways to deal with mites,, that are being worked on, besides chemicals. Asian bees, seem not affected by them, since thats where they started, essential oils, lactic acis,, formic acid,, all know them off the bees,, but dont kill them,, but a trap is needed.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 22, 2001.

and not all state require regerstration,, or even participate in it, as mine.

-- stan Opal (sopal@net-port.com), February 22, 2001.

Stan

I've read trade magazine articles and books on disease and parasite management, talked to professional beekeepers and to my state apiarist. Never heard of a trap. Essential oils are unproven and seem to be only partially effective.

You can't "knock" varroa mites off bees. They lay their eggs in with the bee eggs/larvae and feed off the larvae and brood as they grow. Our Italian bees cannot groom the mites off themselves, and cannot clean then out of the brood cells as the Asian bees can. They are pretty much defenseless. With an advanced infestation you will see mites on open larvae, dead larvae, dead capped brood, dead emerging brood, and freshly emerged brood with grotesque wings. All different stages depending on when the mites took over. I see only two possible solutions: a new hybrid hygienic bee which can clean the hive of mites, or a natural or chemical substance which will repel or kill the mites without harming the bees.

Believe me, if there were a cheaper and simpler solution, we would all be using it. None of us like this new coumaphos chemical, but we like even less losing a major investment in stock and production.

The grease patties you talked about earlier are used with terramycin powder to prevent and treat for foulbrood. The grease encapsulates the powder and extends its effectiveness over a longer period of time so that the medication can be distributed throughout the hive. I have heard the argument that the grease interferes with the functioning of the mites, but again, this is of limited effectiveness since the grease may not come in contact with the mites.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 22, 2001.

Stan:

I went to your site and here is what I found at the top:

"Warning: The information contained in these web pages has not been verified for correctness. Some of the information contained herein is hearsay and may not be correct. Use the information from these pages only at your own risk!"

On the issue of trapping they say:

"When dusting hold the combs at around forty five degrees, not horizontal, to avoid the dust falling into open brood. This treatment only affects the mites on the adult bees but it is non-toxic so can be applied when Apistan is not allowed. Used in conjunction with drone cell traps it helps keep down mite numbers during the active season"

This is only a suggestion to limit mite infestation during honey flow when the chemicals cannot be used. If you rely on this alone you will lose your colony, or at least weaken it to the point where you will not have a harvest. They say right here that it should not get in the brood cells, but that is where most of the mites are!

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 22, 2001.

then what are the stiky traps that all the suppliers sell for?? I havent seem any mites on the brood,, at least during last summer,, immposible to check now. And,, if you can knock them off,, why cant you trap them Skip? Trapping is recommended by everyone I have talked to around here. My question is,, how do you trap with oil / greased paper ?

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 22, 2001.

The "trap" you guys are referring to may very well bee a "sticky Board" and it is used NOT for trapping mites but to check for mites. so many mites in a certain number of hours let you know how infested your hive is.

Also they are saying you can cut the mites in your hive by 30% by using a screen on your bottom board. When the mites fall from the entering/exiting bees, they fall through the screen and cannot get back on the bees.

Take your pick. I am a beekeeper in a bee club and I associate with many researcher at the U of WA and have not heard of a Mite "trap" per say...

Laura

-- Laura (LauraLeekis@home.com), February 27, 2001.