[HesterF]

I was getting quite high Varroa counts from one hive in August so I treated both hives with MAQs strips (the formic acid ones). There was still Varroa dropping but I assumed some was left over dead mites and was more worried that the queen would be OK and start laying again. She did but the Varroa never cleared entirely and is now picking back up again - count last week was near 50. My bee teacher is advising MAQs again as the only thing he can think of using at this time of year, even though it's a tad too cold for it to be completely effective.

Have any of you used MAQ strips at temperatures below 10 degrees? Or what other winter alternatives are there?

H

[Bionic]

Hester,
Advice from my partner as follows -

I've not used the (newly-introduced) MAQ strips.  I've heard good reports about
them and will probably try them myself next year.

I used Apiguard as my Autumn varroa treatment but, as I had low mite-counts
decided to use a single treatment (rather than the recommended two).  I prefer
to minimise the use of Apiguard as the active ingredient (Thymol) hampers
egg-laying/brood development (for the all important winter bees). I think (but
do not know, as I have not looked into their use), that MAQ strips are better in
this respect and can be used for longer periods of the year.

In winter (say, December time), one can treat for varroa with oxalic acid and
keep Deformed Wing Virus at bay. It is best applied after a reasonably cold
spell, which will ensure that queens have stopped laying and that colonies will
be entering a broodless period. The treatment needs to be carried out when there
is minimal brood in the hives and treatment with oxalic acid is feasible,
without inflicting damage to any sizeable amount of brood, or having it harbour
most of the mites present in the hive. It is probably better to treat sooner,
rather than later, waiting for a colder spell, ie. before the brood rearing
begins again next year. It is also best to treat sparingly, according to the
size of the cluster and not to overdose.

If treatment with oxalic acid is being considered, guidance on its use should be
sought from an experienced beekeeper.

I hope this helps
 

[ZacB]

Apply oxalic 3 weeks after the start of a good cold spell. Queen should have stopped laying when cold spell hits and after 3 weeks all existing brood will have hatched. Always a bit of a juggle but nothing is ever perfect is it?

[HesterF]

OK, went with MAQs - just put it on. It's a nice warm, sunny day today so hopefully will stay warm enough for the bees to be active (which is I guess why they say 10 deg). I'll see how that works. It looks like a proper cold spell is still a while off and since Varroa double every three weeks or something, I wanted to get started now. Then I've got Oxalic acid as a back-up to use in the winter if there's still a problem.

While I was doing that hive, I checked the other hive and could see no brood at all - is that normal for this time of year? I didn't check really carefully because I didn't want to disturb them too much but did see the queen, just no brood capped or uncapped. There may have been some there - huge waves of bees still - but not a lot, for sure.

H
H

[cloddopper]

I think the queen stops laying many eggs the fist few days after the first frost and then she starts again in earnest around 21 DEC ( The equinox trigger point ) .. We used to look at the home apiary hives on crimbo day and there was usually plenty of newly developed  brood and new eggs 

[cloddopper]

To the poster who only used half the recommended dose of treatment ..... You are in great danger of producing treatment resistant mites because of your actions .
It's not a good idea at all even if it is cheaper for that's how Varroa mites became resistant to the original Epistan treatments in the early 1990's , the resistant mites then spread all over the UK in the end  . . ( might have the name wrong or the incorrect spelling )

[HesterF]

Oooh, that's interesting - so they're light related rather than temperature related, much like chickens (and I never thought I'd be saying that!). I thought oxalic acid was used in January because that's when you're least likely to have brood. But makes me feel better because the first frost (as a bit of a one off) was a couple of weeks ago but certainly the last few nights have been getting to proper cold. Mind you, most of the trees still have green leaves - including the peach, apricots and almond - so we're running late still.

H

[cloddopper]

Perhaps think more of infra red light starting to increase rather than actual day light

[rogerb]

Hi HesterF, queens will confound you, in October 50% of my queens had stopped laying and the others had not, in fact one was in full lay with not an inch to spare in the brood box; she is a very silly girl and does this all season every year (she’s three) and so consequently uses a huge amount of stores.   January is a good call for oxalic acid as most queens will have stopped by then but you never know, and how effective your treatment is depends on how much (hopefully none) brood you have at the time, I’ve never inspected in January so I cannot be sure what happens, I don’t suppose any beekeepers have, but it make sense to me. Hope it goes well. Good luck RogerB

[HesterF]

Thanks All,

Strips are still on two weeks later because after the week was up, there hasn't been a dry, warm day to take them out again. Today was dry and sunny but didn't go above 6 deg so I don't really want to disturb them (and it does say you can leave them on for longer). So fingers crossed I get a chance to get the strips out soon and that they've done their job 

H

[cloddopper]

Don't leave the strip in longer than advised for any surviving mites can and will readily become resistant to the lower dose .
 You can open bees in wind, rain and snow so long as your fairly quick . Keep your back to the weather to give a bit of protection.
If you think this sounds strange how do you think commercial keepers with hundreds of hives cope when the weather is inclement?

[HesterF]

That's a good point! The instructions do say the strips can be left on after use but I'd rather get them out because they're physically in the middle between the two brood boxes and they cover some of the top of the frames of the bottom box so I'm worried they'll get in the way of their cluster formation. Will try and get them out tomorrow if the sun hits the hives at all.

H

[JulieWall]

Last year we bought some Apivar strips from a vet in Dumfries who has a special licence to bring them over from France. After a phone consultation you then have to send a written request outlining why you want them to satisfy the ministry paper trail, but they are a very efficient product killing 100% of the mites which haven't come back this year. I'm very impressed as most of the mites were gone in the first two days. We had one or two mites fall for several more days then nothing.
I just had a quick read on another forum and it sounds as if there are some strong feelings about this product. I suggest you research it and make your own minds up, I'm not experienced enough to recommend with authority, just relating my own findings.