It’s been my experience…in my area…that the long term solution is to keep the varroa numbers low. And as I’ve explained before, the oxalic acid impregnated blue shop towel method as described by Randy Oliver (who has rigorously tested other methods of mite control also) is very effective and my preference for dealing with the mite.
But if there is a full fledged varroa infestation then I’ve resorted to using synthetic miticide Apivar strips after the honey has been removed. Usually by the time you are seeing visual signs of varroa (check drone larvae pupae), it could be too late to treat the colony.
Apivar strips go in the hive after honey has been removed along with pollen patties…one operation…takes literally minutes to do…and they are very expensive. But there already is significant mite resistance to this synthetic miticide.
But since I haven’t seen mites for some seasons now, all I use are the blue shop towels impregnated with oxalic acid/glycerine solution. Oxalic acid is a natural constituent of honey.
Glycerine I order and pick up at my local pharmacy…and my bee supply company stocks the oxalic crystals…cheap…works out to between $1.00 and $2.00 dollars per treatment. I prepare it on my kitchen stove.
I didn’t intend to imply that the formic acid kills all the mites, just that it does penetrate the permeable caps and has some efficacy where oxalic acid does not.
No, I just didn’t explain it very clearly. My understanding was that they mate in uncapped brood and lay their eggs as soon as it is capped. However, different sources seem to have different opinions. The consistent thing is that a fertilized female (founder) has to enter an uncapped cell - she can’t chew through the cap to get to the larva/pupa.
Latest updates Tuesday 5 July Update for surveillance zone around Calga, NSW
Authorised officers will be conducting hive inspections in the Surveillance Zone (25km purple zone) from tomorrow (Wednesday 6 July) for approximately a week. They will be looking for signs of Varroa mite, as part of our ongoing surveillance work. These volunteers are authorised officers working in conjunction with the NSW DPI, undertaking surveillance for Varroa mite as part of the current emergency response
Worth noting the last bit, Most of those carrying out inspections are not DPI employees, they are volunteer beekeepers. The last thing they want to be doing is euthanising hives so please if you have any interaction with them keep it civil.
I think DPI employees with any real bee experience and knowledge are very limited. I know a few DPI employees here in the south of the state, One of them runs about 50 hives of his own and was called to the response early last week. I am assuming the work load must be massive as I havent heard from him since. At least it does show DPI are well aware of their own limitations and ensuring those working and inspecting hives are confident and competent to do so,
PM Tuesday 5 July Infested premises update
Tracing efforts have detected five new infested premises at Anna Bay, Heatherbrae, Williamtown, Mayfield and Lambton. These new detections all fall within existing emergency zones, bringing the total number of infested premises to 24.
To me it is looking more and more likely that the sentinel hives were not the point of infection and Varroa may have been present in the area for significantly longer than first thought.
Also became aware SFFP MP’s have been calling and fighting for compensation for all beekeepers who have hives destroyed since last week. Worth contacting your local MP and pointing out the fact that recreational beekeepers are not receiving any compensation currently for hives destroyed.
Thanks Doug, I hope it proves that simple here. I’m concerned it may prove harder as here in most places we have brood all year round- and honey supers on our hives generally all year round too. My queens never stop laying. Our honey season is 9 months- so different than yours?
Just in this thread things like caging/killing queens, splitting hives, removing/destroying brood, locking bees in are being discussed- they all sound like quite a bit of extra work- and extra equipment.
Over 1500 hives have now been destroyed- with all being linked to previously identified locations.
Randy Oliver in the USA believes that this outbreak has likely been in Australia since early summer. Makes one wonder why the commercial operators haven’t picked it up- and where it actually came from?
I am concerned that many amateur beekeepers are not up to speed on all this: over the last years I have encountered many people who have difficulty identifying the most obvious basic things in the beehive: brood in all stages, pollen, honey, etc. I try to teach people as much as I can: some pick things up well- others have been ‘beekeeping’ for years and don’t even know what capped brood is and think every drone is the queen. There is a big learning curve that’s needed to ensure all amateurs get up to speed as fast as possible.
I fully agree, Jack. Learning to plan and implement my strategy against varroa was the steepest part of my beekeeping learning curve.
I think there’s room for optimism though, given the wealth of experience and information about varroa management on this forum alone! Also, it’s good to remember that most of Aus bee colonies don’t have to fatten up to survive months of winter - the fat being what varroa feed on, creating the biggest factor in colony death in the northern hemisphere (slim bee bodies can’t make as much heat for the cluster & they don’t last til spring).
As far as I have seen there has been no real discussion of that issue in the media to date. Judging by the very small number of mites found in the sentinel hive- it seems to me that it most likely wasn’t the first point of contact. But there is no clear answer yet. The vast majority of all mites found have been in the hives of a single commercial beekeeper in the region- and hives hat have been located adjacent to his apiaries. It seems very likely that mites have been in that region since summer or at the least autumn.
anyone who has purchased bees, even just queens from the zone should notify DPI and conduct an alcohol wash/sugar shake test on their hives.
Hi Jack, I’ve met a lot of beekeepers that fall into the category you’re talking about. All the talking in the world wont change them. They might have beehives, but they’re certainly not beekeepers.
I call them ‘beehavers’. They have bees. They shouldn’t have bees.
It’s a shame in NSW they charge a fee to register just one hive. I discourages people from registering. In SA under 4 hives is free- and then from 4-20 is inexpensive. This encourages registration. However the SA materials provided for beekeepers by PIRSA for annual inspection reporting are written so arcanely- so absurdly- they verge on incomprehensible gibberish.
perhaps with varroa- it may be time to better regulate amateur beekeeping.
I have just received my renewal for my registration after my first year, and I can’t understand for the life of me exactly what they require of me for bio security reporting. Very hard to understand
I don’t think this is the right place to complain about small amateur beekeepers not being allowed to have bees, or that they are not beekeepers. Flow Hives are mostly owned by amateurs.
The fact is if you keep bees you’re a beekeeper. Not everyone is experienced or knows the best way to manage hives. Given that the varroa mites were first found in commercial hive operations perhaps, according to some peoples logic, their suitability to have bees should be questioned.
That’s a hard assumption to make although it might turn out to be true. The idea of sentinel hives near a port seems a little odd to me anyway, why not just require a few scattered registrants to test for the presence of mites.
Hopefully the cat is not totally out of the bag - I fear that between people who are not willing to come forward and sacrifice their bees registered, commercial, hobbyist, or otherwise and the feral bees around the varroa might stick around this time.
I think the Sentinel program has been good- there have been a few other detection at sentinel hives in the past and they were eradicated, mostly varroa jacobsoni as I understand- and this one was picked up even though there were only 6 mites in total in two hives. Given that the commercial operators at the heart of this outbreak apparently never knew they had varroa until after it was found in the sentinel hive- even though they had thousands of mites in multiple apiaries- perhaps the only reason we even know Varroa is here now is due to the sentinel program. Those operators could have been moving all their hives to the almonds in a few weeks and we could have had Varroa in 4 states by this spring!
from what I am reading there is a fair chance this outbreak will not be eradicated- and if that’s the case then the best next thing will be containment for as long as possible. It’s hard though as NSW is the center of Australian beekeeping. And the Newcastle region has some of the biggest commercial operators in Australia - add to that the feral hives in vast national parks…
I for one am not looking forward to the coming acrimonious debates between the ‘natural beekeepers’ and those that treat- these debates are very divisive overseas. Nor am I looking forward to all the cooked anti-science conspiracy theorists who are ALREADY saying this is all a hoax, more ‘fake’ news.
I am not complaining- I consider myself to be an amateur. But there are many people keeping bees who shouldn’t be. It’s that simple. If you are not prepared to learn, to practice, to inspect: you shouldn’t be keeping honeybees. The same would apply to any animal. Honey is relatively cheap- and there is no reason to have bees if you are not prepared or able to learn to keep them well.
And you are not a beekeeper if you simply have bees but never learn all about their lifecycle, the components of a beehive, how to inspect and manage the hive responsibly. You are a bee-haver. Such people do a disservice to the entire beekeeping community.
On the other hand some amateur beekeepers are brilliant- and contribute a lot of knowledge to the entire beekeeping community. Such conscientious devoted beekeepers will no doubt help a lot as we learn to live with varroa- if that’s what happens. Right now it is such beekeepers who are working with DPI in NSW as volunteers helping to deal with this outbreak.
Even without Varroa- AFB alone is a serious threat to neighboring bee colonies. If you do not inspect your brood, if you don’t know what to look for- you could have AFB and be spreading it to all hives in your area. AFB can strike ANY beehive. It has nothing to do with how good a beekeeper you are. However identifying and dealing with it does have a lot to do with your experience.
before I sell people bees- I ask them a lot of questions, and give them a lot of advice about how to teach themselves and where to get direct help- hands on experience. I talk about half the people I speak to out of keeping bees altogether.
Hi Mike, for what it’s worth, I don’t think Jack is talking about you, or people lacking in knowledge or experience. I think he’s talking about people that are lacking in knowledge & experience that DON"T want to learn.
The fact that you’re here, indicates that you’re keen to learn.
I agree with him on that subject, as well as his excellent point about sentinel hives. I know myself, that if I didn’t physically see a mite on a bee or sealed brood, I wouldn’t have known they were in my hives until it was too late. Apparently, by the time you start seeing mites on bees, the infestation is pretty bad.
