Excellent discussion. Bob’s insights are gold. Given Australian bees have no resistance to varroa it will require a major effort by queen breeders to supply the genetic material needed to requeen all our colonies. NSW has over 300,000 hives that will need mite resistant queens. And importing queens from overseas risks introducing viruses carried by the mites. The industry will also have to develop cost effective treatment practices that are effective in Australian environmental conditions. Bob’s insights are very welcome as the industry faces this challenge.
Bob Doesn't know everything... but he comes close. It's like that American Insurance company says in it's ads "we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two."
Bob sells colonies/Nucs EVERY year. That means most of his bees survive every year when others do not. That's why there is a market for bees . As you say he might not know everything but he has a successful bussiness even with verroa and that is no mean feat.
Awesome to hear Bobs take on it all. So much knowledge right there. A review in a year sounds great and it will provide Dan with enough time to put a well rehearsed list of questions together that one can clearly understand what is being asked. The phone ringing twice was a rookie error. I hope our Government and bee industries are preparing for the worse and hoping for the better.
Oxalic Acid and vegetable glycerin on a sponge type medium is very successful. New Zealand has their "EPA" blessing. Maybe Australia can do the same. My bees haven't looked this good in over 25 years.
Bob is the best! Listen and learn. The US is a big country. Different needs... different bees.... different climates..... different management styles even with varroa. In my area winter can be long and brutal for example. I have great success with just 2 oxalic acid vaps in late fall. No other mite treatment. But I do select hard for breeder queens that are producing daughter queens that are producing worker hygienic behavior and I have brought in outside queens that are mite maulers. It's do-able. Mite management does create a time requirement. But if you learn to do it right the only thing that is hard about bees is keeping up with bee population and all the new hives.
Also for those that may not know it is important to do the alcohol wash on the nurse bees that are on the brood. Forage bees may or may not show the actual mite load and make your test inaccurate. I like using the Harbo method. With that you check the capped brood directly. With the Harbo method you only need to pull 100 puppa per hive out of the capped brood to get the percentage of mites in that colony. After you do it a little while you get pretty fast. Just be sure to not only check the puppa but inside the cell.
@@AmericansBee Well respectfully,it doesn't take me much more time to pull out 100 capped brood than looking for the queen and getting a half cup of the proper bees for the alcohol test and swirl them around long enough which if it isn't done right will give you false data. I don't have to worry about killing my queen and if I don't find any mites or less than 2 per test, I don't have to treat that colony.That saves me both time and money.
The best idea is to quarantine the area of infection, allow the bees to build up an immunity, government compensate the producers and then breed from the survivor stock and spread the genetic through out Australia
"sure-fire way to make money" Straight up it is clear from Bob's candid admission the real money in bees today for their Country is in selling (retailing) bees into a market hungry for numbers as those operators cannot keep bees alive. The smart operator in Australia is going to follow that same lead. There is the "take home nessage" from this piece. ...many thanks for the effort in mounting the podcast, Bob. Shad
North we normally hit ours early spring with apivar knocks them back gets them thru the flows .. don't wanna be dealing with mites trying to make honey.. smaller the tighter you get them more effective the treatment.. you guys can just cage your queens give them a brood break to kill off that super mite Bob's talking about.. north we naturally get a brood break great time for oav treatment that will kill the mites building up resistant to other treatments ... Down side it's one hit wonder if you're bees are off robbing crashing colony's they will bring the mites home that crashed that colony.. something like apivar kills for 60 days .. not all bad get it together you'll probably sell more bees and queens.. alot people don't bother just buy new bees every year
I was a little disappointed ,no one mentioned Randy Oliver's very practical way of breeding for resistance without wrecking his income. He even went to new Zealand to demonstrate hands on. There is a utube on that ,
April fools day.....easy to remember for varroa treatment here, in Australia. Then oxalic acid treatment early to mid winter, when broodless. Then apivar, amitraz.
Bonjour, pour information: le nom d'un des acariens prédateur du varroi est : cheyletus arectis (orthographe de mémoire, il y a longtemps que n'enseigne plus l'apiculture UPVD génie biologique ), il y a d'autres prédateurs..... il consomme les oeufs des puces de chat mais aussi les oeufs du ver de la farine c'est pour cela que les apiculteurs du début du 20° siècle ont donné de la farine aux abeilles au printemps pensant apporter un substitue de pollen mais se préservé du varroi et du brola sans le savoir ( nb: la pression varroi est décrite déjà dans l'antiquité)
The varroa mite is easily dealt with by hive design. If you keep your bees in thin walled hives with all the environmental integrity of a cardboard box the varroa mite will thrive. Change that and the mite will fade away. It is well known that the varroa mite does not do well in a humid environment. (The precise mechanism is not known to me). If you put the bee entrance at the top of the brood chamber immediately below the queen excluder a VIBEZ (Ventilated Integrated Bee Entry Zone) is formed and this will serve to make the brood chamber a humid bucket. The only hive type that has this top entry and ventilation is the ZEST hive. If the pupation time of the bees can be reduced this will reduce the time available for the varroa mites to mature in the brood resulting in the exponential collapse of the varroa population. Individual pupa temperature varies over time of day and brood position. Above 37C. the pupa die. Below 29C. the pupa die. At 35C. it takes 10-11 days to hatch. At 31C. it takes it takes 14-15 days to hatch. 35C. is ideal. Winter time is varroa breeding heaven. Ideally the colony external enclosure will be of an insulated material that also has a thermal weight that carries the heat of the day into the cool of the night and the cool of the night back into the heat of the day. Aerated concrete blocks are ideal having a 39 times better R value than a thin walled hive and 19 times that of a polyhive. The ZEST DIY hive is functionally free (does not need treating for) of varroa together with the maladies and morbidities that it carries. It prevents honey bee diseases such as Nosema, Acarine and DWV, the marker for varroa. As a proof of concept you can adopt these hive design management techniques to see for yourself the truth of them.
Thanks Bob, exactly what I thought. Spring starts in 3. weeks, if they haven't got this contained by swarm season then they can kill every apiary in the country and the mites will be in wild hives. Bob and Beau my best question is can Varoa live outside of bees and hives are there other hosts like the native bees? or other flying insects. That will help me understand the potential to eradicate it. This Varoa has already covered hundreds of kilometers in two directions north
LAM. The only answer right now is "we do not know for the purpose of transfer however we do know VD cannot breed as their reliance on survival is with the hosts brood cycle and none of our native fauna provide such a haven". So whilst horizontal transfer is an unknown we do know if it happens the mite is dead anyway.
@@shadmorgan5491 So did this mite originate from where Honey Bee originated from, or did it evolve on other hosts and just end up finding it's best home with bees when they came in contact, because it is my guess that it was using other hosts before it was introduced to bees but I don't know. What do you mean the mite is dead ? It's fishy odds this mite arrived at this time when there is a WEF attack on food and food production the last 2 years with 100 food production plants in US catching fire ???, if you had malevolent intent and wanted to harm food production as these evil elitist political devils plan then stands to reason you'd attack the bees who pollinate 60% of food we eat conservatively, in a nation Australia which has a 50-100x carrying capacity, or surplus production in good years. IMO they are killing hives and have incentivize you let them destroy the hive and bees so you can't keep bees. Bob says as we have figured it's about impossible to eradicate it but I hope they can. Otherwise it's a state sponsored war on bees they are paying $200 for the bees and $550 for the hive and bees, when the bees are worth more than the hiveware, another incentive to let them kill bees, 5100 colonies already as of a few weeks ago. With all the fear porn and control it will make many give up and take the money. before Varoa it's just about impossible to make bee keeping profitable. The gov was warned as far back as 2006 of all the issues in a submission to fed gov by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, and NOTHING was done. You'd think the last honey producing country in the world not to get Varoa would do everything to hold it off NO, it's never been any priority to protect bees and the bee industry, the opposite apparently. But they can throw 18 million at it now which will likely be money down the drain but it will put our children into further debt slavery to pay it. Now they care NOPE I don't buy it ! We should ask what is more concerning Bees with Varoa which can live together, or a over handed Trojan horse approach in dealing with Varoa where they kill the bee (host) and destroy the means to keep bees (hiveware) to kill the Trojan mite. This is Hegalian Dialectics again! problem, reaction, and the solution was the goal, kill bees legally with your consent ! My guess is Varoa was probably introduced by subversive agents of WEF, and for the record WEF boasts of having infiltrated all the western governments cabinets.
@@livingadamman7994 ..where you are going is an Agri story moreso than any concern of apiarists which was thought to be the focus of your question and so indeed the body of my help for you. That rant you launched into is stereotypical to the point there are so many versions globally the herd is almost feral! Forgive my switching off. Shad
@@shadmorgan5491 Thanks for your opinion and poor attempt at pigeon holing me. Why should it offend me but concern me it does, I'm not dependent on being affirmed by a lost world of virtue signalers intent on hammering down someone asking what are in my opinion valid questions and to disregard such questions is also in my opinion foolish. I have a good understanding of the corruptions of man historically and morally and how it's a fact sabotage has been used historically to poison wells, look into that history. I've stated my points clearly and am not scared of any reasonable discourse but I think when people attack someone for asking questions I wish I didn't have to ask, for the highest good of man and his animals as an animal husband who loves and cares for his animals, then it just confirms why we are facing such a dilemma and collective and national ignorance is partly to blame. I'm just saying there has been too little too late to protect bees and the industry nationally, and this situation, timing and the rhetoric, does not add up. They are paying farmers globally to stop farming, it's the same ideology and agenda, prove me wrong you can't cause it's a fact, but you still don't sound like you will take the question seriously. Your comment lacks of logic and a willingness to question deeper than you've been programmed to, so keep on virtue signaling you will be popular. I don't care to be popular, I want to get to the core of the issue as that's where and only where things can begin to be fixed. All political problems are legislated into existence. And scientists are bought and paid for today. Public servants are self serving and their existence depends on not solving problems at the core. have a good day mate and I'm glad you're done with me, and switched off, as you don't care for reason or searching out the truth of a matter apparently. Nobody is going to do that for us either, it's up to us.
My thoughts are 1. Establish how it got here and who is responsible at law, haven't heard anyone calling for this why ? 2. establish how to live with Varoa, for if it isn't contained and that is most likely then we must live with it. I'm sorry I broke the unwritten rule of adding my oppinion as an addition to a comment thankfully answered, for this is a comments section. To be so anal about such a silly point of order is against the goal of my intentions as outlined and I find it utterly petty and immature.
At first start with what is proven to work well in Europe and America, then after a few years start carefully experimenting with treatments/treatment free once you know more about mites in your area. Beekeeping is local, their are no colonies in Germany that have survived three years treatment free (state sponsored trail) despite other climates having good success. It might be worth finding a comparable climate in the US to what you have, using their treatments regime as a start, and then developing your own. Good luck with you bees.
@@User0player1 At first I tried with pure mineral oil as advised by Dr Rodrigues, I lost almost all my colonies by spring. The same the next year. Then I tried mineral oil with thymol, wow that was a big mistake, I lost most colonies before winter. The fogger that I imported from the UK at a hefty price was binned. The cost of replacing all those bees cost me a hundred times more than the fogger. Search beesource about fogging and make your own decisions.
Consider how long their winter is, ie mites don't bread in cold winters without brood. If you have comparable winter conditions then it could work, but in the beginning you will lose more than 95% the first year.
@@stephenbird9714 I am sorry you had such a high loss when you tried going treatment free. I had about a 50 % loss seems to be about same as when I was treating. I have not treated going into my 3rd season. I do not run Italian bees. So may be diffrent. Wish you good luck. I am in Alabama. We had some days in December that felt like spring. Wish you guys in Australia the best of luck.
@@bamabeesqueens After 12 years of treatment free, I am waiting for someone far richer and far better at beekeeping than me, to work out how to do it in my area. If I had only 50% loss I would happily do it. Good luck with your bees.
I said to dpi in coffs exactly what Bob said the first 30 seconds. It's in you have already lost the fight... Dpi will destroy the industry... hopefully the almond bee's spread it to all states...
"Treat by the first of August" says Bob. Beg to disagree. Thats way to late here in my section of the US bee world. We wash a lot of samples. Did 4 samples again last night. Heres what I got. Sample # / Mites / number of bees in the sample. These have not had any treatment applied since September 2021. #1. 1/377 #2. 18/311 #3. 3/394 #4. 5/ 425 I can tell which one of the 4 is unlikely to make it through Winter stastitically. . After years of washing samples and keeping track of dates and success rates having less than 1.5. Mites in July is imperative. Goal is less than 1 per 100 by late August. FYI: keeping bees since 1980. Commercial. Had bees 10 years before varroa showed. My advice to Australian beekeepers. Learn to deal with them now. Keeping percentages low is the key to success. Be prepared to lowerer the hive numbers you run. . Varroa eats time like no other thing in beekeeping. Nothing. Know your numbers.. Keep your numbers low.
It was a joke nilly all beekeepers who got paid out went and brought a new truck with the funds... just makes hopeless beekeeper look good. Typical phone call beekeepers
When Bob Bennie talks bees, beekeepers listen!
Well done Ben- Bob is one of my favourite bee keepers on you tube he is a wealth of knowledge .
Bob is 1 of the best in my book, I wouldn't be a beekeeper with out him. Ty for sharing, Blessed Days...
Excellent discussion. Bob’s insights are gold.
Given Australian bees have no resistance to varroa it will require a major effort by queen breeders to supply the genetic material needed to requeen all our colonies. NSW has over 300,000 hives that will need mite resistant queens. And importing queens from overseas risks introducing viruses carried by the mites.
The industry will also have to develop cost effective treatment practices that are effective in Australian environmental conditions. Bob’s insights are very welcome as the industry faces this challenge.
You REALLY need to get Randy Oliver to talk on one of these!
Bob Doesn't know everything... but he comes close. It's like that American Insurance company says in it's ads "we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two."
Bob sells colonies/Nucs EVERY year. That means most of his bees survive every year when others do not. That's why there is a market for bees . As you say he might not know everything but he has a successful bussiness even with verroa and that is no mean feat.
@@stephenbird9714 Yep, and his operation is huge. Takes a lot to keep that size operation going.
Awesome to hear Bobs take on it all. So much knowledge right there. A review in a year sounds great and it will provide Dan with enough time to put a well rehearsed list of questions together that one can clearly understand what is being asked. The phone ringing twice was a rookie error. I hope our Government and bee industries are preparing for the worse and hoping for the better.
Oxalic Acid and vegetable glycerin on a sponge type medium is very successful. New Zealand has their "EPA" blessing. Maybe Australia can do the same. My bees haven't looked this good in over 25 years.
What do you mean by a sponge type medium? I am interested in learning this method
@@brendaseo770 Read Randy Oliver's 3 part series in ABJ, this years, March, April & May issues.
@@brendaseo770 scientificbeekeeping.com/oxalic-shop-towel-updates/
@@brendaseo770 Its a Swedish cellulose washcloth pad
Love it!! So treat with Apiguard 1/2 dose 4 weeks in a row. Then Oxalic before winter. thanks BOB.
Awesome interview 👍
Bob is the best! Listen and learn.
The US is a big country. Different needs... different bees.... different climates..... different management styles even with varroa. In my area winter can be long and brutal for example. I have great success with just 2 oxalic acid vaps in late fall. No other mite treatment. But I do select hard for breeder queens that are producing daughter queens that are producing worker hygienic behavior and I have brought in outside queens that are mite maulers. It's do-able.
Mite management does create a time requirement. But if you learn to do it right the only thing that is hard about bees is keeping up with bee population and all the new hives.
Also for those that may not know it is important to do the alcohol wash on the nurse bees that are on the brood. Forage bees may or may not show the actual mite load and make your test inaccurate. I like using the Harbo method. With that you check the capped brood directly. With the Harbo method you only need to pull 100 puppa per hive out of the capped brood to get the percentage of mites in that colony. After you do it a little while you get pretty fast. Just be sure to not only check the puppa but inside the cell.
What? .......... way too much time wasted!!!!
@@AmericansBee Well respectfully,it doesn't take me much more time to pull out 100 capped brood than looking for the queen and getting a half cup of the proper bees for the alcohol test and swirl them around long enough which if it isn't done right will give you false data. I don't have to worry about killing my queen and if I don't find any mites or less than 2 per test, I don't have to treat that colony.That saves me both time and money.
@@woodlandharvesthoneycompanyllc to each their own.
The best idea is to quarantine the area of infection, allow the bees to build up an immunity, government compensate the producers and then breed from the survivor stock and spread the genetic through out Australia
Thank you Bob Bennie!
"sure-fire way to make money"
Straight up it is clear from Bob's candid admission the real money in bees today for their Country is in selling (retailing) bees into a market hungry for numbers as those operators cannot keep bees alive.
The smart operator in Australia is going to follow that same lead.
There is the "take home nessage" from this piece.
...many thanks for the effort in mounting the podcast, Bob.
Shad
Follow South Africa's lead. The rest of the world will be treating forever.
Great chat
Very good info.
I think some pull the queen at a certain time to create a brood gap. I think I think it’s popular in Europe
North we normally hit ours early spring with apivar knocks them back gets them thru the flows .. don't wanna be dealing with mites trying to make honey.. smaller the tighter you get them more effective the treatment.. you guys can just cage your queens give them a brood break to kill off that super mite Bob's talking about.. north we naturally get a brood break great time for oav treatment that will kill the mites building up resistant to other treatments ... Down side it's one hit wonder if you're bees are off robbing crashing colony's they will bring the mites home that crashed that colony.. something like apivar kills for 60 days .. not all bad get it together you'll probably sell more bees and queens.. alot people don't bother just buy new bees every year
I was a little disappointed ,no one mentioned Randy Oliver's very practical way of breeding for resistance without wrecking his income. He even went to new Zealand to demonstrate hands on.
There is a utube on that ,
April fools day.....easy to remember for varroa treatment here, in Australia. Then oxalic acid treatment early to mid winter, when broodless. Then apivar, amitraz.
It is called Easy Check available by Veto-Pharma, France, the same company that produces Apivar.
@Ben's Bees, you guys probably got the Varroa Destructor mites from an Asian ship or shipping container with an infested swarm aboard.
Just remember if you don't take care of the mites they will take care of you. RIP
Good luck, your golden years are behind you.
Ceracell makes a superior mite wash jar (New Zealand)
Bonjour,
pour information: le nom d'un des acariens prédateur du varroi est : cheyletus arectis (orthographe de mémoire, il y a longtemps que n'enseigne plus l'apiculture UPVD génie biologique ), il y a d'autres prédateurs.....
il consomme les oeufs des puces de chat mais aussi les oeufs du ver de la farine
c'est pour cela que les apiculteurs du début du 20° siècle ont donné de la farine aux abeilles au printemps pensant apporter un substitue de pollen mais se préservé du varroi et du brola sans le savoir ( nb: la pression varroi est décrite déjà dans l'antiquité)
The varroa mite is easily dealt with by hive design. If you keep your bees in thin walled hives with all the environmental integrity of a cardboard box the varroa mite will thrive. Change that and the mite will fade away.
It is well known that the varroa mite does not do well in a humid environment. (The precise mechanism is not known to me). If you put the bee entrance at the top of the brood chamber immediately below the queen excluder a VIBEZ (Ventilated Integrated Bee Entry Zone) is formed and this will serve to make the brood chamber a humid bucket.
The only hive type that has this top entry and ventilation is the ZEST hive.
If the pupation time of the bees can be reduced this will reduce the time available for the varroa mites to mature in the brood resulting in the exponential collapse of the varroa population.
Individual pupa temperature varies over time of day and brood position.
Above 37C. the pupa die. Below 29C. the pupa die.
At 35C. it takes 10-11 days to hatch. At 31C. it takes it takes 14-15 days to hatch.
35C. is ideal. Winter time is varroa breeding heaven.
Ideally the colony external enclosure will be of an insulated material that also has a thermal weight that carries the heat of the day into the cool of the night and the cool of the night back into the heat of the day. Aerated concrete blocks are ideal having a 39 times better R value than a thin walled hive and 19 times that of a polyhive.
The ZEST DIY hive is functionally free (does not need treating for) of varroa together with the maladies and morbidities that it carries. It prevents honey bee diseases such as Nosema, Acarine and DWV, the marker for varroa.
As a proof of concept you can adopt these hive design management techniques to see for yourself the truth of them.
has Verroa reduced the number of backyard bee keepers after it took hold olin USA
It's been a year, make a follow up stream.
Bob, do you store the pails of Apiguard? Does it hold up till next season?
Hello from North Wales, UK. I've just bought trays of Apiguard for treatment in August. Use by date is 2025,
i keep asking WHERE/HOW DO THE MITES START
the only thing i guess is a downside is you cant feed sugar water when applying apiguard.--right?
I have, but wont this year, i am prefeeding a week or two prior.
@@AmericansBee thanks...ive heard it both ways...
@@texasfriendlybeekeepers8210 just subscribed to you!!
if they are detectable you are to late to catch them and wipe them out
Thanks Bob, exactly what I thought. Spring starts in 3. weeks, if they haven't got this contained by swarm season then they can kill every apiary in the country and the mites will be in wild hives. Bob and Beau my best question is can Varoa live outside of bees and hives are there other hosts like the native bees? or other flying insects. That will help me understand the potential to eradicate it. This Varoa has already covered hundreds of kilometers in two directions north
LAM.
The only answer right now is "we do not know for the purpose of transfer however we do know VD cannot breed as their reliance on survival is with the hosts brood cycle and none of our native fauna provide such a haven".
So whilst horizontal transfer is an unknown we do know if it happens the mite is dead anyway.
@@shadmorgan5491 So did this mite originate from where Honey Bee originated from, or did it evolve on other hosts and just end up finding it's best home with bees when they came in contact, because it is my guess that it was using other hosts before it was introduced to bees but I don't know. What do you mean the mite is dead ? It's fishy odds this mite arrived at this time when there is a WEF attack on food and food production the last 2 years with 100 food production plants in US catching fire ???, if you had malevolent intent and wanted to harm food production as these evil elitist political devils plan then stands to reason you'd attack the bees who pollinate 60% of food we eat conservatively, in a nation Australia which has a 50-100x carrying capacity, or surplus production in good years. IMO they are killing hives and have incentivize you let them destroy the hive and bees so you can't keep bees. Bob says as we have figured it's about impossible to eradicate it but I hope they can. Otherwise it's a state sponsored war on bees they are paying $200 for the bees and $550 for the hive and bees, when the bees are worth more than the hiveware, another incentive to let them kill bees, 5100 colonies already as of a few weeks ago. With all the fear porn and control it will make many give up and take the money. before Varoa it's just about impossible to make bee keeping profitable. The gov was warned as far back as 2006 of all the issues in a submission to fed gov by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, and NOTHING was done. You'd think the last honey producing country in the world not to get Varoa would do everything to hold it off NO, it's never been any priority to protect bees and the bee industry, the opposite apparently. But they can throw 18 million at it now which will likely be money down the drain but it will put our children into further debt slavery to pay it. Now they care NOPE I don't buy it ! We should ask what is more concerning Bees with Varoa which can live together, or a over handed Trojan horse approach in dealing with Varoa where they kill the bee (host) and destroy the means to keep bees (hiveware) to kill the Trojan mite. This is Hegalian Dialectics again! problem, reaction, and the solution was the goal, kill bees legally with your consent ! My guess is Varoa was probably introduced by subversive agents of WEF, and for the record WEF boasts of having infiltrated all the western governments cabinets.
@@livingadamman7994 ..where you are going is an Agri story moreso than any concern of apiarists which was thought to be the focus of your question and so indeed the body of my help for you.
That rant you launched into is stereotypical to the point there are so many versions globally the herd is almost feral!
Forgive my switching off.
Shad
@@shadmorgan5491 Thanks for your opinion and poor attempt at pigeon holing me. Why should it offend me but concern me it does, I'm not dependent on being affirmed by a lost world of virtue signalers intent on hammering down someone asking what are in my opinion valid questions and to disregard such questions is also in my opinion foolish. I have a good understanding of the corruptions of man historically and morally and how it's a fact sabotage has been used historically to poison wells, look into that history. I've stated my points clearly and am not scared of any reasonable discourse but I think when people attack someone for asking questions I wish I didn't have to ask, for the highest good of man and his animals as an animal husband who loves and cares for his animals, then it just confirms why we are facing such a dilemma and collective and national ignorance is partly to blame. I'm just saying there has been too little too late to protect bees and the industry nationally, and this situation, timing and the rhetoric, does not add up. They are paying farmers globally to stop farming, it's the same ideology and agenda, prove me wrong you can't cause it's a fact, but you still don't sound like you will take the question seriously. Your comment lacks of logic and a willingness to question deeper than you've been programmed to, so keep on virtue signaling you will be popular. I don't care to be popular, I want to get to the core of the issue as that's where and only where things can begin to be fixed. All political problems are legislated into existence. And scientists are bought and paid for today. Public servants are self serving and their existence depends on not solving problems at the core. have a good day mate and I'm glad you're done with me, and switched off, as you don't care for reason or searching out the truth of a matter apparently. Nobody is going to do that for us either, it's up to us.
My thoughts are 1. Establish how it got here and who is responsible at law, haven't heard anyone calling for this why ? 2. establish how to live with Varoa, for if it isn't contained and that is most likely then we must live with it. I'm sorry I broke the unwritten rule of adding my oppinion as an addition to a comment thankfully answered, for this is a comments section. To be so anal about such a silly point of order is against the goal of my intentions as outlined and I find it utterly petty and immature.
At first start with what is proven to work well in Europe and America, then after a few years start carefully experimenting with treatments/treatment free once you know more about mites in your area. Beekeeping is local, their are no colonies in Germany that have survived three years treatment free (state sponsored trail) despite other climates having good success. It might be worth finding a comparable climate in the US to what you have, using their treatments regime as a start, and then developing your own. Good luck with you bees.
You guys in Australia are picking the brain of an American Godfather in beekeeping!
Does fogging with mineral oil and wintergreen oil effectively reduce or eliminate mite populations?
no recorded effect.
I fogged for two years, please, please, please DO NOT GO DOWN THIS ROUTE unless you have loads of money and do not care if you kill bee colonies.
@@stephenbird9714 you fogged with what?
@@User0player1 At first I tried with pure mineral oil as advised by Dr Rodrigues, I lost almost all my colonies by spring. The same the next year. Then I tried mineral oil with thymol, wow that was a big mistake, I lost most colonies before winter. The fogger that I imported from the UK at a hefty price was binned. The cost of replacing all those bees cost me a hundred times more than the fogger. Search beesource about fogging and make your own decisions.
@@stephenbird9714 where you taking mite counts before losing the hives? how did the food stores look in the hives?
Good luck to all aussie beekeepers...is all you cant teel
Kirk webster has been treatment free for 25 years. He has a lot of writings on his site.
Consider how long their winter is, ie mites don't bread in cold winters without brood. If you have comparable winter conditions then it could work, but in the beginning you will lose more than 95% the first year.
@@stephenbird9714 I am sorry you had such a high loss when you tried going treatment free. I had about a 50 % loss seems to be about same as when I was treating. I have not treated going into my 3rd season. I do not run Italian bees. So may be diffrent. Wish you good luck. I am in Alabama. We had some days in December that felt like spring. Wish you guys in Australia the best of luck.
@@bamabeesqueens After 12 years of treatment free, I am waiting for someone far richer and far better at beekeeping than me, to work out how to do it in my area. If I had only 50% loss I would happily do it. Good luck with your bees.
I've never treated in 13 seasons and have never had a 95% bee kill.
I said to dpi in coffs exactly what Bob said the first 30 seconds. It's in you have already lost the fight...
Dpi will destroy the industry... hopefully the almond bee's spread it to all states...
"Treat by the first of August" says Bob.
Beg to disagree. Thats way to late here in my section of the US bee world.
We wash a lot of samples. Did 4 samples again last night.
Heres what I got.
Sample # / Mites / number of bees in the sample.
These have not had any treatment applied since September 2021.
#1. 1/377
#2. 18/311
#3. 3/394
#4. 5/ 425
I can tell which one of the 4 is unlikely to make it through Winter stastitically. .
After years of washing samples and keeping track of dates and success rates having less than 1.5. Mites in July is imperative. Goal is less than 1 per 100 by late August.
FYI: keeping bees since 1980. Commercial. Had bees 10 years before varroa showed.
My advice to Australian beekeepers. Learn to deal with them now. Keeping percentages low is the key to success.
Be prepared to lowerer the hive numbers you run. . Varroa eats time like no other thing in beekeeping. Nothing.
Know your numbers.. Keep your numbers low.
Where are you located?
It was a joke nilly all beekeepers who got paid out went and brought a new truck with the funds... just makes hopeless beekeeper look good. Typical phone call beekeepers