Thank you Eva for your feedback !
Yes Eva, concerning the nectar flow you have a point the more the population grows the more they’ll store nectar so let’s wait and see.
Concerning the Camomille (some may use thymn leaves) it might help to control mites, and for the salt we just add a pinch just to give the bees some extra minerals that might also help.
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Hello joe.Im from lebanon and I just started beekeeping. Maybe we can help each other. I live in Batroun and if you want to hit me up my number is 76107830.
Ok great, what’s your name ?
My name is Alexandre Nahry
Nice to meet you Alexandre.
I’ll be posting any noteworthy updates of my beehives on this thread. You’re welcome to share anything too if you want.
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Ok no problem. I actually posted on this forum just minutes ago if you could help me out with my problem.
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This is awesome, so cool to see people connect! Just a tip, be careful to use the private message feature when deciding to share your digits - regular forum users won’t bother you but there is the occasional bot or scammer around 
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Yes eva you are right. I shouldnt be so open on a public forum.
All good hopefully! And welcome to the forum by the way 
Hello Peter, I hope you’re having a nice day.
I checked my hives today and they both seem to do well : good brood patterns, some capped honey, larva etc … I even witnessed a bee coming out of its cell !
Anyway, I looked for nectar and it seemed to be more than last time, and next to the nectar I found brownish/mustard color cells of pollen too.
So thank you Peter for pointing out this to me last time.
P.S : I didn’t notice any varroa.
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Excellent news Joe, it all sounds good that the hives are going well.
Do a bit or research into doing a ‘sugar shake’ for testing for varroa mites, it seems the most popular way of testing numbers. Australia is so lucky that we don’t have it here yet.
Cheers
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Well noted, I’ll look the ‘sugar shake’ up.
Thank you Peter.
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Peter I just learned about the technique it seems to be pretty efficient to spot varroa. However, given that my hives so far seem to be clear of any mites, I don’t want to bother my bees or put them into stress if there’s no need to.
But in case I ever suspect anything, I think I will adopt the sugar shake.
Again Peter, thanks for the great suggestion .
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Testing and treating for mites becomes a major part of beekeeping anywhere the mites have invaded. The sugar shake method is good but not as reliable as the alcohol wash method. The alcohol unfortunately will kill your sample of bees, but you will see the most accurate number of mites. Many new beeks believe that they don’t have a problem because they haven’t seen them, but if you do begin to see them on bees’ bodies easily with your naked eyes, the infestation is already critical and your bees are most likely to become overwhelmed by weakness and disease. Here is an article describing the alcohol wash and some other key points for beekeepers in areas where varroa mites are prevalent:
Here’s more about using oxalic acid towels or pads inside the hive, as opposed to vaporizing the OA - the latter has been a very effective mite treatment used by many beekeepers - the towel or pad method of delivery is being tested and developed further:
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Yes Eva you’re right, I should be more vigilant regarding this matter especially as you said that once we see the mites with our bare eyes it’s already kind of late.
I will read the 2 articles, thank you for providing them.
On a bright side, when I bought the hives (and as I have mentioned before), there already were 2 prophylactic cardboard tainted with I don’t what exactly to repel varroa.
My father suggested we bring some new cardboard to repel the mites as a prophylactic so we can date them and do a more exact follow up.
So what do you think, updating my prophylactic cardboards or sacrificing some bees in an alcohol/sugar wash ?
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Interesting, I think best to find out what the cardboard contains first because it could be something requiring special timing or variation with other methods. Doing a mite count helps direct your next steps with that, and I’m only just getting the hang of it all myself. Check out the Pests and Diseases thread on here and you’ll find more experienced mite-management discussions.
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I will, thanks a lot Eva.
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Hi guys, I want to thank you a lot for helping me out in the start of my beekeeping adventure (especially Eva and Peter).
Despite of all what’s happening in the world, especially in Lebanon, my bees are thriving and doing well : we ‘harvested’ one frame of honey from one hive just to taste the honey, I am using a varroa mite prophylactic and all is going well.
However I have one little concern, in Lebanon we are in autumn right now and nectar is a bit rare and my bees seem quite agitated.
Does any of you have any idea why ?
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Hi Joe, so great to hear your season progressed well! Glad to have helped. You said it yourself, the agitation and nectar scarcity go hand in hand. Your bees are especially defensive of their precious honey stores in anticipation of colder weather.
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I suspected that, thank you Eva for confirming it 
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