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There are LOTS of different ways to do the kinds of things we talk about. What we go over are what works best for us. Our organization is made up of Master Gardeners, Master Beekeepers and others who have been beekeeping, gardening and educating their whole lives. Please ask questions, leave comments, LIKE, SUBSCRIBE & SHARE!
Works for you because you are not looking, or choosing to look only where you believe mite sits on a bee. Hopefully seven years after this bullshi7 you now know what and where to look, for mite on bees. Or more likely your bees have left, stressed to the max by incompetence!
You say you do this once in the spring and once in the summer and twice in the fall. How soon in the spring do you do this and what time in the summer and when in the fall and how far between the two treatments in the fall? Would it be good to do this powder sugar dusting on newly installed package bees? Do you have a list of videos you do talking about all the non toxic, chemical free treatments you use such as this one? I refuse to use any chemicals and medications in my bees but am struggling to be a successful beekeeper.
Not sure it matters. It is just a matter of putting very thin dusting of sugar on the bees in order to stimulate grooming in the hive and to make it harder for the Varroa to stay attached. I would use the one that is the finest, if you see a difference at all.
So I’m not much of a cook so forgive a possible dumb question all the powdered sugar I can find has corn starch in it is that ok to use or do I need to look further
Some Gefen Confectioners Sugar doesn't have corn starch, but most do. We use any type of powdered sugar without any issues, so I would say, based on our own usage, it doesn't matter much.
Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it is bad. We do this to our bees as part of our Integrated Pest Managment (IPM) and it works well for us. Everyone can figure out the way they think works best for their bees, their location and their situation. No need for comments like this, they are neither warranted or helpful.
great super great video ---mites --ok please post SHB video how you treat natural method next questions is ok sure mites fall through the screen on the ground --now would not the mites jump back into the hive
Yes, so put a sticky board under your hive so the mites fall off, down through the bottom screen board and get stuck on the sticky board. This also helps see how successful the treatment was because you can see the results. I would use a sticky board under you screen bottom every time you do a treatment, no matter what kind, so you can see your results. Some will be better than others :)
Oxalic strips are used extensively in NZ. A mixture of 40% oxalic acid and 60% glycerine is heated up to 60 degrees in pan ~ no more heat or it starts to turn into formic acid. Once colour is clear which shows glycerine has mixed with the oxalic acid, it can be poured on the special hardened cardboard strips. Strips are dipped in solution, then taken out of container llowed to dry for a day then draped over brood frames. three or four strips may be used on each brood box every second frame. Oxalic acid being a naturally formed acid in certain plants gets on the bodies of mites and kills them. Replace strips every six weeks. It is very effective in keeping mite to very low count and has benifit of keeping isease down too. Look up NZ oxalic strips and how to control Varroah...
Nope. At most you may find some cells with a little sugar in them if you pull honey close to when you did a treatment. Remember you are putting a VERY light dusting of powder sugar on the bees, do NOT load them up with it or you'll make issues.
It is pretty hard to get them all the first time, especially if you are doing it alone. Getting a bulk of the bees will help, next time around changes are good you'll hit some of them you missed the first time :)
Loved seeing this! Please reach out to Just Alex and let him know about this. He's got a very large channel and bees. I suspect he'd love to learn about this.
Just curious if this is what you guys still do? I just started keeping bees, first spring, first year and so I want to do it as natural as possible. This looks like it would not only be easy, but safe and best for my bees.
Just happened to see. Most hives will get Varroa, only a matter of time and if they do get them, we're treating anyway, so matter how many we see in a wash. Washes help you determine how bad the mite load is getting and can be helpful, but we treat with our rotating IPM method all season anyway, so load isn't as big of a deal to us.
We do Drone Frames, Oxalic Acid, Powder Sugar dustings and Drone brood checks regularly. If Varroa gets too bad, we'll use Apivar or some other related strips in the hive. They key is, no matter what you use to try and control Varroa, to rotate treatments. Don't use the same one over and over and when you do treat, try and record the results, so you know which ones work better than others.
Hello In France, this method is not used or recommended. but I still want to test because my colonies are not very infested. I read that this method kills open brood, is this true? do you only use this method or do you supplement with oxalic/formic acid or thymol? Thank for sharing !
Hi Nest! We always rotate our methods for mite treatment. This just happens to be one of the many ways we try to control populations. Good IPM (Integrated Pest Management) should always rotate treatments to his mite life cycles at sifferent time. We have not noticed brood problems after treatments. We try hard to get the powers on the bees and not the frames as well. If there are any issues from this treatment, they are so minor we don't notice them.
Some one said on a forum about beekeeping that the icing sugar method was not conducive of what is going on re varroa mite infestation. He was quite abrupt in saying if you don't see any after dosing with icing sugar they are still there. After using illegal oxalic acid and glycerine strips I have come to the conclusion that this method does kill all the varrao. I base my opinion on the fact that after two dustings of icing sugar last year that did not shift a single mite and dispite a vigorous fumigation with 4 gram of oxalic acid, some mites survived till this year. A month ago + one week I put in two 'strips' of oxalic acid and glycerine as per Randy Oliver's data. Within one month from 50+ drop per day at the beginning to 6 mites in two weeks and then NIL mite drop after a week I would evaluate that the 'strip' method works when the icing sugar did not. A caring beekeeper by the name of Harris says = this may be the silver bullet we have been hoping for' I now am very much inclined to believe him whole heartedly. I now feel the icing sugar is better on cakes than on bees. If the icing sugar works for certain individuals then great, but it did not work for my bees who must have been irritated by those terrible mites. Another plus is that I have seen not one bee with Deformed wing virus, as opposed to last December when I saw 2 dead with that virus. Although I saw not one single mite for 6 months I did see two dead with the virus Dec 5th 2021 so immediately used my contraption that delivers the oxalic acid fumes that does kill varroa but I might add -not all the varroa in the hive could have been killed. it's interesting to note that some scientific researchers on oxalic acid sublimation recommend 6 doses at 4 gram a time 3-4 days apart..... Wow.
Yes, you can have a LOT of Varroa in your hives and never see them. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't in there. We definitely have lost bees due to Varroa, but the numbers are far less when we follow a solid IPM system of treating for them to keep their numbers down.
My bee's have and extra box on top of honey box and box on top has a feeder on one side of box and on the other side has ceder wood chips will wick moisture away
What size were the plants you planted? I have 300 plugs coming in a week and would like to know if I should pot those and keep them in the high tunnel or greenhouse and for how long. Thanks.
How do you test for varroa mites? Do you use the most accurate method of an alcohol wash? I stopped watching at 2:39 because you said most varroa mites attach to the back of the bees. I've read multiple places, and heard the people in charge of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln Bee Lab say most of the mites attach themselves on the underside of the bees. The bee lab doctors are beekeepers. They say the powdered sugar control method isn't very effective because most mites are safe inside sealed brood cells busy multiplying.
We treat our hives with almost every method out there. Powdered sugar is just one method of a total Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPM). We have seen good results from doing this method as we put sticky boards under the screen bottoms so we can see what mites have fallen off or been removed via grooming. There are lots of methods to treat for Varroa and any good IPM rotates these methods to hit the Varroa in a every part of its life cycle possible. These methods has proven to work for us, so they remain a part of our regiment. I cannot speak to the Varroa attaching to the underbelly, as this information seems to be changing often as new science is published, but it was part of our training as Master Beekeepers from the University of Montana. While I am sure they can attach in many places, we seem to see them on the backs of the bees when we encounter them in our hives. Thanks for the comments!
Do you do any mite washes any time of year? How much powered sugar per box are you using? What's your winter survival rate? What is the honey production per hive? How many hives do you have? Is powdered sugar the only varoa managment method you use?
Hello Matt! We do mite washes occasionally, but our treatment methods are pretty standard and we do them regularly, despite mite loads in our hives, just to stay on top of it. The powder sugar isnt really measured, we just add a very fine dusting on the bees, not a thick coat. We average a 70% survival rate out of several hundred hives. Honey production isn't affected by mite treatments, as long as the different methods (like drone brood frames) are done properly and at the right times. Powdered sugar is not the only method. Any good IPM plan will rotate treatments in hives in order to hit the Varroa at different stages of their life cycle and to not allow resistance build up. We use power sugar, drone brood frames, Oxalic Acid, brood gaps, mineral foggers (to name a few) and occasionally strips if we are having a particularly stubborn hive. Rotating your methods and measuring how effective they are is key! Thank you for commenting!
@@HoneyandHome ok you might want to amend or put a disclaimer on this video because it gives the impression that this powered sugar treatment is all it takes to keep varoa in check which is false and by your own words isn't what you do. I run several hundred colonies and sell up to 500 nucs a year. I teach intro to beekeeping by the scientific studies and hard data over decades of research. We have 65-95%survival rates depending on the year and treatment method(s) used that year.
Yo what he said I don’t even own a beehive yet trying to do research so I know what I’m getting into and you had me fooled. You never use anything but powdered sugar as far as chemicals and now you’ve changed your stance.
