Winter pests and treatment

[Dawn_SD]

Hello and welcome to the Flow forum!

@TennesseeBee

Pests were managed - or so I thought. Suggestions are welcome.

Managed how? You say “strips” later in your post, but what kind? There is Apivar, MAQS and even homemade oxalic acid strips. Did you rotate treatments or just use one type? Did you do mite counts, if so, how? Alcohol wash, sugar roll or just “observation”? Not being snarky here, just trying to understand what you have already tried, so that we can give you improvements.

@TennesseeBee

this year they hive was abandoned in February

Sounds like it could ba a varroa overwinter loss, but you may find it helpful to read this article and compare it with what you found to see if you agree:
https://beeinformed.org/2016/03/08/why-did-my-honey-bees-die/

@TennesseeBee

Mites appear to have discolored some frames and wax

Mites leave white crystal deposits in the tops of the cells, but they don’t otherwise discolor the cells. If you are referring to the brown color in your photo, that looks like shellac staining from bee brood to me.

@TennesseeBee

One website said I had to treat for mites again in December. I have not heard of this ‘scheduled cycle’ and thought you only treat what you know is a problem.

So if you have lots of time, you can do mite counts (sugar roll or alcohol wash is best) once a month and base your treatment on that. I did that for about 4 years, but I still lost colonies. So now I have switched to Randy Oliver’s cellulose sponge oxalic acid treatment twice per year. Randy is working with the EPA to get very easy treatments approved which will not develop resistance, and can be used even with the super on. The cellulose sponge is one of those, and I think it is brilliant. It worked fantastically for me for the last 6 months. Here is one discussion about it, but you can use the Search tool at the upper right (magnifying glass) to search for more on sponge oxalic acid:

Hello from Pennsylvania

I do, and I use the materials and methods described in his more recent posting: I have summarized the method I actually use here: These are the sponges: This is the glycerine: The oxalic acid is Savogran Wood Bleach from Home Depot. Amazon has it too, but it costs a bit more. It is over 99% pure and is perfectly safe to use for this method. Randy Oliver is working with the EPA to certify the method as safe to use with a super on. Initial results show no major effect on honey compositi…

@TennesseeBee

Also,I tasted the honey (FANTASTIC) even though it had treated with strips. Is the honey waste? Can I give to my next hive? Burn it with frames? What?

Again, which strips? If MAQS (formic acid) it is safe for humans and bees. Other treatments may be dangerous for bees, and risky for humans, but that is your choice.

Hope that helps, but keep asking if you have more questions.