Very , very good video. I think there are a real problem when someone is getting into bee keeping they are not told about all the things that goes along with taking care of them and the money it takes for everything like Treatment,treatment equipment , feeding bees , adding boxes from spring splits , equipment for honey production, etc . I just think people do NOT have no idea about everything that goes along with bee keeping until after they have dipped their toe into it and then it is over there head . So to say all this you just put out a GREAT video . I hope this video goes out to everyone. Thanks
Great series! I only used brood breaks last year, and lost two hives over winter. Upon realizing the mites where the problem, I treated all hives with OAV. While doing brood breaks this year I plan on treating on day 24, when there should be no capped brood in the hive. Thanks for all the info you put out.
1st year keeping bees for me. If i use brood breaks (caging the gueen) and OAV...what is the best times of the year to use these 2 methods combined? By reading your comments i assume i keep her caged until all capped brood has hatched then use the OAV.
Jeff Brannon I’ve never done the caging of the Queen. But not sure I’d want to keep her caged so long all the brood hatches. That could be up to 24 days. I like to OAV coming out of winter, and possibly during a brood break as long as supers aren’t on, and especially on September or October when the queen is laying those winter bees. Want those bees as healthy and mite free as much as possible.
Measure your mite levels. Treat. Test for effect. Repeat every month. Change up your treatments through the year. Don’t take shortcuts. FWIW I use Amitraz strips in early spring, thymol and formic acid at either end of the summer,and OAV late fall and late winter. Splits and brood breaks when the opportunity presents. Great video series, Brett, thanks for the effort and stay safe and healthy.
Fantastic series, thank you for taking the time to help us out. Just a suggestion - in Australia we use icing sugar (powdered sugar) instead of the alcohol and we mix longer but a little more gently. That way your bees live through the test. Cheers :)
I am sure that this took a lot of time for you to put together and it shows. Thanks for sharing this info. The concern I have for new Beek is they rely on OAV to much. If the bees have brood you are only killing maybe 20-30% of the mites and within 2-3 weeks they will be back as strong as before treatment. Kamon Reynolds treated a hive with a 96 mite count 7 times with OAV doing it in 5 day intervals and did not get the mites under control until he finally used Apivar. Every wash he had the numbers were lower but not sufficiently low. I like the idea of using OAV after a brood break from a split just before the hive starts to cap the new brood, early spring and late fall.
There's definitely a lack of effectiveness when there's brood present, and the more brood the less effective the treatment will be. It's definitely a worthwhile tool though. One thing I've found is the mite drop % is directly correlated to how thick you get the vapor in the box, so a lot of the time when I hear people don't get a real effect from OA I think that had something to do with it. Especially if they're hitting the hive every 5 days.
You may not be looking at these old videos anymore but firstly thanks for the information hopefully this year will be my first successful year because of it. My question is that I herd about using menthol essential oil as a mite treatment in the spring. What are your thoughts on this?
You said in your video that drones often have the most varroa on them so why don't we use drones for the alcohol wash ? or are the nurse bee more vulnerable because they can't fly ?
I don't know how you'd get a half of a cup of just drones. If you could do that, I think it would be a great method of testing. You'd get the highest concentration of mites and you'd not be killing any of the hive workforce. So, it's a good idea, just tough to pull off.
Great video(s) and thanks very much for the content. We are going into our second summer of beekeeping and parasite management was #1 on the learning board. Ive heard that a hive should be treated for mites 'every spring and every fall', more like scheduled maintenance, rather than testing and reacting to a count - What do you think?
You can do it like that, but don't take that schedule as a sure sign that your mite count is low. At the very least do a mite count after your late summer treatment to make sure the mites are low enough.
I wouldn't try it, and I don't advise trying it without a strict mite testing regimen. The active ingredient that gets people talking about rhubarb is oxalic acid. We have oxalic acid in a concentrated form that kills mites pretty well, but give it even a little crack in the box for ventilation or a windy day and the concentration will drop and the mites won't die. So, going with something with a MUCH MUCH lower concentration of OA with the hopes of killing mites, well, I wouldn't think it would do very much at all. If you're concerned with using some of the organic acids, consider the fact that both formic and oxalic acid are normal parts of a honey bee colony's life. In fact, the FDA has approved both acids for use with honey supers on because testing shows the treatments don't affect the formic or oxalic levels.
@@BKBees thank you for your response .. i am new to bee keeping this will be my second year keeping bees .. last year i had two hives and did this rhubarb leaves thing and one hive died and one hive lived ... i was really againt using chemicals but thanks to your videos i am reconsidering that thought...have you ever tried apiguard? or what are your thoughts on that route?
@@taylorluckett4674 Yeah I like Apiguard, Apivar, Formic Pro, Mite Away Quick Strips and Oxalic Acid sublimation. They all have their subtle pros and cons, so it's always my suggestion that you test after you treat, and have the goal of getting totally rid of the mites by the end of summer, before those winter bees you depend on so much are created.
What if we have Veroa Mites during a nectar flow? since we can’t treat with honey supers, do we take the supers off early and treat, or wait for a month or two until after the nectar flow and it’s honey harvest time? Thanks
How does a drone go from hive to hives because bees react to smell if you put a strange queen in a hive they will kill her so how come the drone does not get killed when they go from hive to hive
Different jobs and ways of interacting with the hive. Drones are sort of an afterthought, after the brood has been taken care of, they just come and go and don't abide hive politics.
B&K Bees Yes I understand The role of the drone but the hive he comes from will have a certain sent or smell .won’t it be foreign to another Hive and won’t they attack him because they do not recognise them as one of them how does he get around that
@@davidboyd8113 No, drones come and go as they please. Also if you use the hive tool test to a bad queen, you can directly introduce a LAYING queen within 8 hours and they will accept her. Foragers that bring back food and make a mistake and come back to the wrong hive the bees don't care either. If a bee comes to rob that's different and they will attach the robber bees.
@@davidboyd8113 I also went to a bee class and they said because I used some brood out of another colony when them nurse bees gets old enough to becoming foraging bees they very well may go back into the old hive so I needed to space out the 2 hives
Very , very good video. I think there are a real problem when someone is getting into bee keeping they are not told about all the things that goes along with taking care of them and the money it takes for everything like Treatment,treatment equipment , feeding bees , adding boxes from spring splits , equipment for honey production, etc . I just think people do NOT have no idea about everything that goes along with bee keeping until after they have dipped their toe into it and then it is over there head . So to say all this you just put out a GREAT video . I hope this video goes out to everyone. Thanks
Thanks for taking the time to make this series, it goes a long way in helping us new bee keepers.
I really like your videos, you are easy to listen to and understand. God Bless you
Thanks for your time and effort you put into this I and I'm sure others learned so much. I might just take you up on the ask a ton of questions.
Great series! I only used brood breaks last year, and lost two hives over winter. Upon realizing the mites where the problem, I treated all hives with OAV. While doing brood breaks this year I plan on treating on day 24, when there should be no capped brood in the hive. Thanks for all the info you put out.
That's a great plan. Very good use of OA and brood breaks.
1st year keeping bees for me. If i use brood breaks (caging the gueen) and OAV...what is the best times of the year to use these 2 methods combined? By reading your comments i assume i keep her caged until all capped brood has hatched then use the OAV.
Jeff Brannon I’ve never done the caging of the Queen. But not sure I’d want to keep her caged so long all the brood hatches. That could be up to 24 days. I like to OAV coming out of winter, and possibly during a brood break as long as supers aren’t on, and especially on September or October when the queen is laying those winter bees. Want those bees as healthy and mite free as much as possible.
Thank you very much for your quick and helpful reply Joel
Jeff Brannon you bet👍
Another great series Brett
Thank you!
Thanks for a great series. I get my first 2 nucs in May and look forward to putting the knowledge to practical use.
Thank you so much for this series, Im sure it will be useful for years to come!
Measure your mite levels. Treat. Test for effect. Repeat every month. Change up your treatments through the year. Don’t take shortcuts.
FWIW I use Amitraz strips in early spring, thymol and formic acid at either end of the summer,and OAV late fall and late winter. Splits and brood breaks when the opportunity presents. Great video series, Brett, thanks for the effort and stay safe and healthy.
You made that so easy to understand from the life cycle to the treatments... Thanks
Fantastic series, thank you for taking the time to help us out. Just a suggestion - in Australia we use icing sugar (powdered sugar) instead of the alcohol and we mix longer but a little more gently. That way your bees live through the test. Cheers :)
He addresses this in the video: it's not as effective as an alcohol wash.
Thank for the effort Bret, it’s appreciated. Second year Beek in Connecticut.
I am sure that this took a lot of time for you to put together and it shows. Thanks for sharing this info. The concern I have for new Beek is they rely on OAV to much. If the bees have brood you are only killing maybe 20-30% of the mites and within 2-3 weeks they will be back as strong as before treatment. Kamon Reynolds treated a hive with a 96 mite count 7 times with OAV doing it in 5 day intervals and did not get the mites under control until he finally used Apivar. Every wash he had the numbers were lower but not sufficiently low. I like the idea of using OAV after a brood break from a split just before the hive starts to cap the new brood, early spring and late fall.
There's definitely a lack of effectiveness when there's brood present, and the more brood the less effective the treatment will be. It's definitely a worthwhile tool though. One thing I've found is the mite drop % is directly correlated to how thick you get the vapor in the box, so a lot of the time when I hear people don't get a real effect from OA I think that had something to do with it. Especially if they're hitting the hive every 5 days.
A big hi from New Zealand ,great series and looking forward to the next
Thank you for all of the videos. You have been very helpful to me.
Another job done well. Thanks. Appreciate the knowledge you keep spreading.
I’m just loving your intro!!!
Great video
Thanks for sharing your knowledge- I appreciate your efforts in creating videos!
Thanks for this... thanks for all of your videos really.
Nice job on the series!!
Thank you, Jon!
You may not be looking at these old videos anymore but firstly thanks for the information hopefully this year will be my first successful year because of it. My question is that I herd about using menthol essential oil as a mite treatment in the spring. What are your thoughts on this?
This video is exactly what I needed. I just ordered Formic pro. You think mid August is the best time to use it? Thks for all your amazing vids
You said in your video that drones often have the most varroa on them so why don't we use drones
for the alcohol wash ? or are the nurse bee more vulnerable because they can't fly ?
I don't know how you'd get a half of a cup of just drones. If you could do that, I think it would be a great method of testing. You'd get the highest concentration of mites and you'd not be killing any of the hive workforce. So, it's a good idea, just tough to pull off.
Great video(s) and thanks very much for the content. We are going into our second summer of beekeeping and parasite management was #1 on the learning board. Ive heard that a hive should be treated for mites 'every spring and every fall', more like scheduled maintenance, rather than testing and reacting to a count - What do you think?
You can do it like that, but don't take that schedule as a sure sign that your mite count is low. At the very least do a mite count after your late summer treatment to make sure the mites are low enough.
have you ever heard of or tried using rubarb leaves inbetween your boxs for a mite treatment?
I wouldn't try it, and I don't advise trying it without a strict mite testing regimen. The active ingredient that gets people talking about rhubarb is oxalic acid. We have oxalic acid in a concentrated form that kills mites pretty well, but give it even a little crack in the box for ventilation or a windy day and the concentration will drop and the mites won't die. So, going with something with a MUCH MUCH lower concentration of OA with the hopes of killing mites, well, I wouldn't think it would do very much at all.
If you're concerned with using some of the organic acids, consider the fact that both formic and oxalic acid are normal parts of a honey bee colony's life. In fact, the FDA has approved both acids for use with honey supers on because testing shows the treatments don't affect the formic or oxalic levels.
@@BKBees thank you for your response .. i am new to bee keeping this will be my second year keeping bees .. last year i had two hives and did this rhubarb leaves thing and one hive died and one hive lived ... i was really againt using chemicals but thanks to your videos i am reconsidering that thought...have you ever tried apiguard? or what are your thoughts on that route?
@@taylorluckett4674 Yeah I like Apiguard, Apivar, Formic Pro, Mite Away Quick Strips and Oxalic Acid sublimation. They all have their subtle pros and cons, so it's always my suggestion that you test after you treat, and have the goal of getting totally rid of the mites by the end of summer, before those winter bees you depend on so much are created.
Has anybody tried rhubarb leaves as an oxalic acid or thyme crushed and mixed mixed in coconut oil as a thymol treatment?
What if we have Veroa Mites during a nectar flow? since we can’t treat with honey supers, do we take the supers off early and treat, or wait for a month or two until after the nectar flow and it’s honey harvest time? Thanks
I treat with formic acid in that case, no need to remove the supers.
How does a drone go from hive to hives because bees react to smell if you put a strange queen in a hive they will kill her so how come the drone does not get killed when they go from hive to hive
Different jobs and ways of interacting with the hive. Drones are sort of an afterthought, after the brood has been taken care of, they just come and go and don't abide hive politics.
B&K Bees Yes I understand The role of the drone but the hive he comes from will have a certain sent or smell .won’t it be foreign to another Hive and won’t they attack him because they do not recognise them as one of them how does he get around that
@@davidboyd8113 No, drones come and go as they please. Also if you use the hive tool test to a bad queen, you can directly introduce a LAYING queen within 8 hours and they will accept her. Foragers that bring back food and make a mistake and come back to the wrong hive the bees don't care either. If a bee comes to rob that's different and they will attach the robber bees.
@@davidboyd8113 I also went to a bee class and they said because I used some brood out of another colony when them nurse bees gets old enough to becoming foraging bees they very well may go back into the old hive so I needed to space out the 2 hives