Killing Bees... to Save Bees (Alcohol Varroa Mite Test)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2018
- In this video, I test my bees for Varroa mites using an alcohol test. Bees are killed in this video. I explain why I do it and show you how. I don't like killing bees, but IN MY OPINION, this is the most accurate way to test for mites. And I want to do everything I can to have healthy hives that survive winter. This is a logical choice.
Varroa Easy Check Tester: www.betterbee.com/pest-manage...
Brandon's Bees Mite Test: • Varroa EasyCheck : Pro...
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You should find the queen first.
Yes. Good tip.
I usually like to put my eyes on the queen if im about to swipe a bunch of bees. But to each their own.
Pretty sure he knows to look for the queen but say he did accidentally kill the queen they will make a new one and if he doesn't like how the hive acts with new queen he could always purchase another
It would be a real bummer if after he pour out the dead bees from the cup and notice the queen in it.
I've stopped bothering with these kind of diagnostic tests. I know my hives have varroa, so I treat against it. When I treat with oxalic acid in autumn, I do a count of mitefall to see if I need to be extra watchful next season. I also count the daily mitefall during week 25 to see if a summer treatment with formic acid is necessary, but so far it never has been.
I only use acid treatments, but I've never lost a hive to varroa. It probably helps that we have a long winter season here in Norway and the hives are without brood for five or six months.
@Wylvien op assumes they have mites and treat for them as if they do. That's a very good assumption..
What is your method to count mitefall and where do you buy that in Norway? I am looking to start bee keeping in Norway too.
@@marcusbiller867 Our bottom boards are designed to make mite count easy. They are screened, with a backwards facing drawer underneath which the bees can't reach. Mites will fall through the screen, and I can simply pull the drawer out and count any mites that are there. You put a clean drawer in when you do the treatment, and take it back out a few days later. Same with the week 25 count.
I buy my beekeeping equipment from Honningcentralen, but there are a few other private suppliers.
@Wylvien I'm sorry I missed this.
I do two mite fall counts per year (or more, if either regular count is very high), and one treatment every autumn, so I know how much varroa each of my hives have. I also autopsy every dead hive, and have never found enough varroa to consider them a likely cause of death.
Counting the mite fall on the bottom board is in my opinion the best way to monitor how much varroa a hive has. With an alcohol, CO2, or sugar shake test, it's just too hard to know if your result is representative of the hive average.
I don't treat with chemicals, I tend to do shook swarms early season and if I am particularity worried put in a frame of drone comb then discard when capped. A few of my fellow bee keeps also use rhubarb leaves on top of the queen excluder, they contain natural oxalic acid which evaporates. I have not tried it myself but many rave about the results.
At the end of the day, if it aint broke....
Keep up with your great content dude.
You don't treat with "chemicals" but you promote a system that uses the same chemicals. Doesn't matter if it comes from a leaf or from a factory...oxalic acid is oxalic acid.
@@jason50146 Calm down princess
@@jason50146 everything is chemicals. Look at your own body for example. It's a chemical machine.
It runs on chemicals and makes chemical biproducts. To do chemical-free beekeeping is not possible because the bees are Chemical machines too.
Honey is a chemical.
@@mikeries8549 It seems my reply is being mis-interpreted. I am not now, nor have I ever, advocated for chemical free anything. My response was pointing out that oxalic acid from a leaf is the same as oxalic acid in a jar from the chemical supply shop. That statement is 100% accurate. So, you see, we are in complete agreement.
Sugex or wild lettuce also contain oxcillic acid. Catnip and cats mint contains the chemicals that the split in a lab and concentrate for flea and tick treatments. Or you could move the Fleabane growing in your yard instead of mowing it down. Various types of Thyme contain Thymol which is used in Apigard. There's also Rosemary, oregano,, borage, bee balm; lemon balm; Sage, lavender, Lemongrass, citronella, any manner of herbs and spices that are good for you AND the bees. They will treat themselves if you let them. They are their own apothecaties.
You're straight forward approach to keeping bee's is helping many - Your videos are terrific... Keep up the great work.. oh, and thank you..
Poor bees...
This is an interesting article with a video of it's own. It's essentially mites for varroa mites!
There is also an interesting theory to do with mushrooms too. I miss having bees. Im living vicariously here :)
dreamingabeautifulworld.blogspot.com/2014/02/honey-bee-varroa-mite-solution.html
I need an edit button -_-
Thank you
I agree on everything you said. Just for me. Treat anyways. Don't even worry about testing, just treat. They are there, even if the mite load is even just a hand full. Best thing to do is learn the mites life cycle and when they are the heaviest during the season and treat on a schedule. No need for testing then. Great stuff sir. I use the OAV treatment. It is not a chemical Oxalic acid is a plant based substance. It is naturally produced in plants. The down fall is it is more toxic for humans than bees. You have to be very careful using it.
I’m with you VinoFarm, well done !!!
I do mite-washes too
Kind regards from Chile.
Brand new bee keeper...have learned so much from your vidoes.
Had a similar first experience my first week to yours. Found your channel after my first interesting week. Was good to know I was not the first to have such an experience. Thank you.
Hoping I'll get through my first winter
Hi Kristen, Thanks for watching. (I got your email. Sorry I didn't reply!)
no worries about the email reply - i'm subscribed...so I'll keep up via youtube. Question what have you found out regarding setting out dry pollen? You showed it on one of your past videos - what were the circumstances that had you setting it out? . Thx
I put it out as soon as the temperatures warmed up and I started seeing activity. They took 2-3lbs in a day, then about 2lbs over the next week or so, then they completely stopped taking it. That was right when the very first natural pollen started coming in. I imagine they won't take it if natural pollen is available, but for early spring, it was great.
If I remember correctly, you did mention in a previous video that the New Package queen is a resistant queen, right?
Love your bee videos! Bee keeping intrigues me but I swell up pretty good when stung, last one from a hornet gave me a football shaped arm. Amazes me that you tend your bees in shorts with no net or gloves!
Base your tests around drones and routinely treat for varroa each winter when the hive is full of bees who are going through winter. Good work and well done for tracing your progress with previous treatments. If you get a bad infestation prior to winter then oxalic acid diffuser is a good method. Once a week for three weeks will get all of the varroa regardless of their cycle.
Simplification tip --- One of the state inspectors checked my hives on my first year of beekeeping. He had a very efficient method and it had a lot to do with the shape of the container he used - He used a square cup container (with alcohol already in it) and with the *flat edge* of the container he scraped them off the flat edge of a frame - no brush or shake required. ( like using an ice scraper to get snow off a windshield). It didn't tick off the bees too much, because they had no time to realize what was going on as they slipped into the drink. One step - off the frame - and into the alcohol - dead. The rest of the process (shake, shake, shake) was similar to yours. Granted his technique was perfected over years of experience - it was slow enough to not cause alarm, but fast enough to get all the bees he needed.
An even easier simplification. I don't test at all, but I treat (with OAV) *as if* I have varroa, because next week or next month its likely that I will - eg: they could be inside the capped brood. When testing (via alcohol wash) , it only finds the phoretic mites. I've heard of "Varroa Bombs", where there's a sudden outbreak of mites, and even though you think you're varroa free one week, *boom*, the population explodes, and takes out your hive a month later. - Great job on the videos.
👍 Good job. I have that same testing cup. Tried it with sugar and agree the alcohol wash works better. I too used the Apivar strips and they worked great in the Fall before winter.
Great job explaining the need to treat. Just a reminder, the bees are already preparing for winter. Queen is slowing down but now the varroa are starting to explode. There has been discussion in our bee group that there is some thought that the closer you treat to the fall, you are putting stressors on them which causes them to use their “fat reserves” a bit.
So, they are not going into winter at full potential. Many of us are putting on Apivar from the middle of July to beginning of August. Since it is on for 42 days, the treatment won’t come off till September.
Just another idea from a humble beek.
I truly appreciate your videos and the care and thought you put into them.
Around here we have a pretty mega flow from mid august to mid/late September. The general practice is to get Apivar in immediately after that. A little close to winter, but I've done it twice now with good results.
Yes the varroa are in Australia NOW and are here to stay, I know, I live here, they arrived 6_ 8 mths ago, that's why I am watching your blog, to learn
I also use easy check however I use 1/2 cup measuring cup which is approx 300 bees makes putting bees in easy check much easier good luck I really enjoy your channel.
You have to test, but if you do not want to kill the bees use powdered sugar instead. Watch Barnyard Bees to see how the alternative test can be done with the same equipment.
Barnyard Bees Dave knows what he's doing! He's the man!!!
Good on u vino. I know what u did wasn't easy but u did what u thought was right. I say good job. For now u r mite free
Great video! I completely agree about treatment free, but I use Oxalic Acid vaporization exclusively. my reasoning for this is that Varroa can't gain resistance to OA. OA is not a poison, it actually physically burns parts of the mites, therefore no resistance gain. It is 100% safe for the bees (way more than formic). The downside of it is that it does not penetrate cells, so you need a brood break OR you can treat 4-5 times every 5 days to break the mite cycle.
Anyways, excellent results! I just treated with 5 weeks of OAV and my mite levels were actually similar to yours before treatment. I need to test again post treatment to see if I find any at all.
Great video! Beginner beekeepers need to learn how to check for mites. One very important thing to know is that a honey bee colony is a superorganism. This fact means that killing 300 bees is pretty much the same as cutting your hair or scratching your arm and having skin sells fall off and die. A strong colony in summer can have anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 bees, 300 is a drop in the bucket. And there are 1000 bees flying out and dying every day from old age. Keep up the good work!
I'm not a bee keeper but do love watching your work, I find the subject fascinating!!
My 1st thought was, (and I'm not an expert!!!) Whatxeoupd of happened if accidentally a queen got over looked in the test jar. What would happen to the hive in that very moment. How would the hive behave, and what would a queenless hive do?
Keep up the excellent content!
Julian Griffiths if you see the other videos, you will know that a queen less hive will produce another one. I myself am not an expert, but the bees are some badass creatures and know how to handle themselves
I’ve had similar mite counts this season using this method. I only have two hives, one Italian and the other is the new Saskatraz line, which is touted as being mite resistant. I know this time last year my mite load was also very low and charmed myself into believing that mites weren’t a problem for me. Needless to say, I had to start all over again this year because my hives didn’t survive the winter. This year I am determined to be a diligent (alcohol wash) tester AND treater. I won’t call myself a beekeeper until I get my hives overwintered. Until then, I am just a lowly bee-buyer. Thanks for taking the time to do these awesome videos and for fighting the good fight against varroa!
wow its hard to imagine anyone would not treat their bees, you learned fast though, all hives should be treated regardless of test results. remembers its still a small sample and is not even remotely close to an accurate number.
This video is clearly intended for non-beekepers. Any beekeeper knows about varroa and should know that the alcohol method is the way to go. Any beekeeper who does not know these things, or who is unwilling to kill a few bees for the greater good will not be a beekeeper for long.
As for your methodology, you need to measure the bees that you test, you're just dumping random amounts of bees in your cup and killing them. Granted, a 0 result is a 0 result, no matter how many you test. 1/2 cup of bees is about 300. Divide the mite count by 3 and you get a percentage of infestation. This is necessary to decide whether or not to treat. Over 2% in the spring or 3% in the fall and it's time to kill some mites.
It is intended for NEW beekeepers. Thousands of them watch my videos. I was a new beekeeper two years ago and would have been glad to see a video like this back then. I didn't test anything my first two years. I learned my lesson.
I use the exact same tester and have had no mites so far. Everyone I've talked to (in central Ohio) all state it's a low mite year. They've all reported no mites, or 1 mite per test. Try again in a month (as you've stated). I brush into a container and scoop them out with the white cup instead of dumping the container into the cup. Then dunk the white cup into the alcohol. Your way seems to work to though.
I use the Easy Check too and I love it. However, I find it easier to do the drag down the frame method to get my sample.🐝🐝🐝
I look at it this way. Information in a good way is helpful information. But arguing about it don't help any new bee keeper. Anyway I liked that you're doing p.m. on your hives.
we had a Varroa scare here in Melbourne, Australia about a month ago, varroa destroyer was detected on a ship after it docked, hopefully it hasnt gotten out!
I mean this is your channel, these are your bees. It's ultimately up to you. I don't mind at all, although I am not a beekeeper. No matter what we say, its ultimately up to you to do what you want.
Its videos like these that make me happy I live in Australia, I really hope we don't ever get those little punks over here!!!
You are doing the right thing for your hives though!!
Ask when and where they came from.... NOT a natural species of the North American continent!
Actually, they have apparently just found some on Queensland (I think that's where it was). 😕
Thanks for the video.
You said it right at the end, test/check then treat it need bee. Kudos to ya on free mute yard
Does the location of the frame(s) to be sampled make a difference?
Since the mites are interested in drone comb first, wouldn't it make sense to take the sample a brood frame with the most uncapped drone cells you can find? As opposed to say a honey frame in a super.
I took bees directly off brood. It is recommended to test nurse bees on brood. Newly hatched. There will be another video soon about the drone frame. Stay tuned.
While I understand the purpose, it is still a sad sight v.v Rest in peace.
Great news :D
I feel like there should be easier ways of figuring out if Varroa are even in the hive first...
Varroa are so successful because they are hide-and-seek world champions. If you SEE them, you're too late. They've taken over. This test gets the mites that are tucked away in the little nooks and crannies of the bee exoskeleton.
Vino Farm I see ^^
Look at you!! First no gloves and now ur wearing shorts!! You’re doing awesome bub
Is this a fall treatment? Apivar? Do you treat with supers on or off? Huge taboo with "treated" bees and the honey market. Same for homemade shb treatments.
It is recommended to take supers OFF before treatment, although Apivar is supposedly safe to use with supers on. Best practice is to take them off if you will be selling the honey. Apivar can be used year round, but is generally a fall treatment.
I haven't tried it but there is a similar method using CO2 gas. its makes the bees and mites sleepy and collapse then the bees recover when put back in freshair.
HOw do you keeep the wood looking so good? If one uses linseed oil or wax does it not turn gray?
J G I explain that in this video: th-cam.com/video/JL2gJQMh_Dg/w-d-xo.html
Nice job
if you are truly mite free, WOW. You are absolutely blessed. I am amazed. What do your bottom boards say? My boards tell me I do not even need to shake and pour....
I watched your year 2 playlist, and now just finished year 3... guess I have to go to first year! Can’t get enough of your content and the legendary balboa colonies! Just love the OG balboa ❤️
From my experience, I have split my hives (walk away), taking some cap brood frames and eggs frames. Like you did... When you take the cap brood, you take the mites away from the parent hive. The mites don't have any other larva cells to go back in, in the new nucs, until the queen emerge , get mate and lay. it's called breaking the brood cycle. You can look on TH-cam for : treatment free beekeeping
Vino, how does the 3 layer hold up to bee stings? I am seriously thinking of getting my own backyard hive, and im sure I will get stung here and there, but does that type of suit offer good protection? I have also seen videos of people who use nitrile gloves and they say bees tend to stay away from the gloves
I've never been stung through my jacket.
Where did you buy your suit and hat. I like the hat as it looks very comfortable
Jacket is linked in the description. The hat is actually no longer in use. The band got all gross inside and the 'vented' mesh of the hat allowed my forehead to get all sunburned. I'm wearing a different hat now, seen in my previous video. Just google "beekeeping helmet" or "beekeeping hat" and they all come up.
Mate, I can truly empathise with you. It is one of the hardest things to do in your life, to dispatch those that you are committed to tending and caring for.
I'm in Australia and have lived in rural areas most of my life, born in a sheep and crop area, now living in a beef area. Back in the early 1980s the bum fell out of the wool market and tens of millions of sheep had to be euthanised. A terrible job that fell to graziers, but it had to be done. A few of us went home to help out. Man, it is the hardest thing to do, but to hear of those on the land suiciding through the grief forced us to act. A terrible time of my life I hope never to experience again, and live with it now and, well, you know what I mean.
To do what you did for the betterment of the many is necessary to ensure a future. Well done and cheers, you have my full support.
That is an awful story. Sorry to hear that. Thank you for the support.
Your videos are awesome. First year beek and it’s good to have progression video of what to do. Not todo and what to keep an eye out for. I’ve watched 1000s of bee videos and tend not to read comments as most are negative. Keep up the great videos and would like updates on how the 4 over 4 colonies are progressing. 👍🏻
I'm glad I don't have Varroa mites yet. It's getting closer but parts of Sweden is still Varroa free.
Do you use drone brood removal too to reduce the amount of mites?
I am trying that this year. It will be on a video soon.
Jim. You don't have to justify yourself when it comes to cultivating your hives!!! You are totally capable of making the best decisions that work for you buddy!!! Your Queens will rock and produce like crazy. Although taps or something might have been nice??? Lol you're a good bee keeper Jim. ❤
You need open brood frames. As the mites are on the bees there waitting for a cell getting capped. Capped brood has no use to mites til its relayed in
I thought I saw somewhere if you let the bees get back to normal size then your mite problem is move back to the drones?
i think you should additionally do a sugar test. if you get more mites on the sugar test then you know the alcohol cup is problematic maybe mites aren't falling through the holes)
nickt sugar test doesnt work
I went to a local beekeeper's meeting and they suggested running the edge of the cup along the side of a frame against the comb, parallel, from top to bottom.. as you rake the cup down all the bees magically fall into the cup.
There are now "varroa mite apps" for smartphone. Perhaps you can do a video on using the apps. Compare them.
You take pics of a brood frame. It counts bees, mites, and also assesses stores. I haven't tried it yet.
Let me know how that works. I probably won't be trying it. Sounds pretty wonky.
You are doing great.
I have no problem with treatment
Hello, something I saw another bee keeper do the other week was after doing his shake he poured it out and put water in an done another shake in that he got A LOT MORE an repeated that one more time and got MORE mites so all an all he did 3 shakes with the same 300 bees . It was unreal how much BETTER of a test it did by doing the two extra water shakes after the alcohol wash . So that is the way I will be doing mine from heat out . Maybe this will help everyone out. It mad a believer in me 🤷♂️🤷♂️🐝🐝
Seems like just looking at the bees if you see mites you should treat. Am I wrong?
If you can see mites on bees, it's too late.
What is the progress on breeding a type of honeybee that routinely clean varroa mites off themselves?
evolution, takes a million years if you want to wait .. we can genetically modify an excitation now, just dont have the people doing it yet. cant wait until we modify an extinction for SHB, and all mites, and of course the mosquito
What about a CO2 treatment?I have seen it and it looks like its working well, very close if not the same as alcohol treatment.
Timing.
We should try and get treatments done in time for colonies to raise one or two cycles of brood between treatment and wintering up. The mites weaken the bees and spread diseases that knock off the colony in winter. For me that means treating before mid-August. Getting honey pulled and starting the OAV soon.
i'm no bee keeper but wish to bee one (pun intended) question would treating an unefectected hive hurt hive? if no then just treat all hives without sacrifice, if yes i appologize.
jason putt It depends on the method of treatment.
Oxalic acid vapor is effective on exposed mites but not the ones in the cells. So it needs to be done once a week for three weeks. Mites don't develop a resistance to it, but it is time consuming and disruptive to the hive. For some reason, not a lot of beekeepers I've talked to in my region use this method.
Formic acid (mite away quick strips) is effective on all mites at once, but it comes with risks of killing bees and is very harsh on the colony. Not something I want to do if unnecessary.
My preferred method (Apivar) is the gentlest and easiest. However, overuse comes with the risk that mites might eventually develop a resistance to it. So it's best not to use it if you don't actually need it.
Also, there is cost to all of these, so with a lot of hives, "just treating them all no matter what" can get time consuming and expensive.
Varroa mites suck.
Thanks for the knowledge! You should try the BeeScanning app for detection, find the mites with your camera and AI! Works great! 100% BEE FRIENDLY :)
I pictured a yellow-black stripped ribbon with the legend "Put an end to Varroa"
Well Said !!! 😎
Hello from Tennessee! I have a question? If you see varroa every year...why not just treat them with the strips without testing? Like putting flea medicine on your dog every year.
Because mites can develop a resistance to treatments. Its like antibiotics. Only treat when you absolutely need to.
Mr. Vino, you need to do some research before you propagate the resistance myth. No living creature can develop a resistance to an acid. It would be like saying you could stick your finger in a cup of acid enough times that you would eventually not get burnt.
But don't take my word for it, listen to Jennifer Berry, Entomologist and Honey Bee Lab manager for the University of Georgia: "Resistance (to Oxalic Acid) will not be an issue. It'd be like a cockroach becoming resistant to a hammer."
Jennifer is kind of making it up though, isn't she? We know the OA we use is too weak to be actually burning the mites (it would burn the bees too if that were case). We know that mites absorb some of the OA, then something happens and they die, but we don't actually know how it works.
Arnd2it I am talking about Apivar. I have never used oxalic.
@thibeault From what I've read they did a 12-year study and the mites die because they absorb the acid through the soft pads on their feet. (and of course, their mouths, if they happen to eat it...) See the second paragraph here:
www.varroamilbe.ch/Abstract_Effect-of-oxalic-acid-on-Varroa-mites.pdf
Thanks !!
a lot of bees on landing board are dying overnight preparing for winter. why not use them for a mite test?
The mites hang out on nurse bees that spend time over open brood cells. The mites are devious creatures that jump into brood cells that are JUST about to be capped off. They reproduce inside the capped cells. Then new bees emerge covered in mites and their first couple weeks are spent hanging out over open brood cells... etc. The idea is to go to open brood cell frame and test those bees. The ones with the highest concentration of mites.
Thanks again for the video, I tried the sugar test, I don’t feel I got a accurate result I with it. Going to finally try this method.
Don Beissel I feel that way because of the evidence of the sugar test I did.
I said I felt at that moment "That one Test" wasn't accurate and trying the other method, I never said they were not accurate. Well my superpower is detecting sarcasm, and it's at 100% with your comments. This is not the place for boasting about degrees and what people should or shouldn't feel, it's a place to help other Bee Keepers new and experienced. I served in the Military for 27 years, and as far as your feelings program you teach, trust me, the old saying my "Gut Feeling" was spot on more than a time or two. Also not getting an accurate result could have been not enough bees, not enough sugar, not rinsed well, not shaken long enough. So I would prefer to not be analyzed by a doctorate degree in feelings. This a TH-cam video about a mite test, not a debate over "Feelings" I wont be posting results, I don't want my results or feelings analyzed.
Phillip, I didn't have the time or patience to do a comparison, but if you've already got the sugar testing stuff, you should do a comparison. Do your sugar shake test and save the bees. Then do the alcohol test with the same bees and see if more mites come off. It's definitely inhumane to put the bees through it, but may be worth it for science.
Vino Farm yea that’s a good idea, I tried the sugar because I didn’t want to kill the bees. I’m going to do it again, and do both this time. I will post the results when complete for the benefit of people on here for sure. Thanks for the suggestion, appreciate what you do on here!
Don Beissel Your link does not show an actual comparison as to the effectiveness between sugar and alcohol. It describes the method but I was talking about testing the bees with sugar once and then testing the same bees with alcohol to see if the alcohol removed any remaining mites.
I don't feel that sugar removes as many mites as alcohol. I also feel bad that you need to shake the bees in a jar of sugar for two minutes. That must feel awful for the bees. What are your feelings on sugar vs. alcohol?
Where did you get your cup? I’m going to be doing my first test in August.
Link in description.
Vino Farm awesome, thanks!
They are your bees you treat/test them as you see fit! Everyone will have an opinion but in the end you are responsible for your colonies.
Love your videos!
Great instruction and view on the necessary sacrifice. I share the same opinion on varroa testing methods. One criticism: You either didn't show the part where you accurately measured 1/2 cup of bees or didnt do that. 200-300 bees is a range that shouldnt be varied, it's broad enough not to. You may have had 100 in there = no mites. If you had 200-300, you may have seen 2-3 mites, which is a good number. For repeatable results, I would think use a measuring cup. I think....
In our area Jim, alot of beekeepers dont use Formic acid strips because they have a higher instance of queen loss, over winter or not. You are likely correct as you are seeing the same results the career beekeepers here see.
Bzzzant Honey I've never lost a queen with MAQS, but both times the hives did not survive winter. It could be that I only treated them after the varroa reached insane levels and no treatment would have worked anyway.
Well i was told by several career beekeepers not to us MAQS because they seem to have elevated winter losses. If a queen dies in the winter the hive is usually doomed because they lose that much needed cohesion and order in a time when its the most important. It can cause a host of issues that usually result in winter hive loss. The only other problem i was told is MAQS is temperature dependant, and if the temperature drops too much in fall or spring, its ineffective, and if the temp suddenly spikes it can gas the hive to death overnight i was told. Problems that Apivar doesnt suffer from . I can have a day here thats 19C (66F) , followed by a day at 34C (94F) . It can be inconsistent.
What i like to do is use Oxalic Acid in fall, i did drip last year , my friend is going to vape my hives this year for me. And i do apivar in spring, So im giving the mites a 1 -2 punch over the year to avoid resistance since apivar has limited resistance already in some varroa populations.
While they are your bees, and you can treat them how you see fit, you should have just made a sticky board to not have to kill bees. Also treat all hives with varoa treatments Oct 1st and off within 6 to 8 weeks so there is no resistance buildup when little brood production is the best way to kill 95 percent of varoa each year.
Dude, I agree with everything you said in this video. I thought I could be "treatment free" but I realize now that is almost impossible. Thanks for the shoutout and congrats on the (almost) mite-free apiary!
How's your testing going?
I’ve been following you both as we all started at the same time. I found a product that you both might find interesting. Mighty mite killer by thermal bee industries. Still treating but no chemicals. I just bought one and will let you both know what I think. I would be curious as to your thoughts as well.
Correction. www.beehivethermalindustries.com/resources/videos/
Question, How do we know if we should use the treatment for varroa depending on the number of vorroa?
There are mite level percentages... 3 mites/100 bees usually means you should treat.
content.ces.ncsu.edu/managing-varroa-mites-in-honey-bee-colonies
Vino Farm Thank you, and thanks for showing a new method to me!
Hi from Australia. We have been lucky so far but, Varroa were detected in a sentinel hive at a major port facility near Melbourne just a few weeks ago. It seems to be a case of when we get them not if.....
Oh no!!!
Great video, it's tough love. Thanks for giving us all the mixed feelings that go into being a beekeeper.
dam i wish you would of talked to me before you killed the bees
why?
I was going to comment about drone testing... but as I started comment I saw the snip at the end. I think I as well will try this but I will always recommend uncapping 50 or more drone cells to see what the mite levels are.
Aka Jolly Next video... I didn't open 50, but (spoiler alert) results were the same.
Vino Farm it's very meticulous work but if it gave same results I'm sold on the shaker
How about using a nice brandy? Let 'em enjoy their final moments. ;) I'm sure it's not an easy thing to do, but you are right, saving the hive is the priority
Sean Lyons I thought about using vodka on the Russians.
Vino Farm they would drink it all and not die . Then you would just have drunk angry Russians lol
Hows it going Jim? Any updates on your forage?
Buckwheat is in full bloom Bees are all over it. I have learned that Buckwheat is only open for nectar until midday and then it shuts down. So bees are covering it all morning and it's dead quiet in afternoons. Very interesting. It is definitely the most successful field crop I've tried. I just dropped another 100lbs of seed on another field about 100yards away. So we should have another big bloom first week of September for the whole month. I'm doing it for the bees, but also trying to build biomass and smother some weeds. The outer pasture was in pretty rough shape, but a couple years of this should bring it back to life.
Good on you, yeah I use soil building regenerative ag techniques on a large scale (600 acres of row crop and 100 acres of wildlife food plots). Buckwheat is great but you're spot on about the nectar flow. It also produces dark honey, some people hate dark honey but I love buckwheat honey. It tastes like the best light molasses you can imagine. Buckwheat does a good job of weed suppression and cycles a lot of phosphorus into the upper soil profile. When the buckwheat is done, look into cereal rye and annual winter clovers like crimson clover. The rye has a heavy root mass and some good allelopathic effect. For soil building heavy on the rye, for bees...heavier on the clover. You'll love the crimson clover next spring if it doesn't winter kill for you being in MA.
Soil health is all about the soil organic matter and soil carbon.
I keep trying different clovers and they get smothered by the grass that comes back before the seeds take hold. The buckwheat grows like crazy and suppresses all the grass. I tried sweet clover last year and it started coming in, but then got smothered. Alfalfa was a complete dud. No germination. I tried red and white clover this spring and it germinated and seems to be taking hold, but the grass is now ahead and growing tall. I don't know if the clover will make it. I have not tried crimson clover.
I'm going over the soil with a 3pt tiller and then seeding. I think I need to find more things like the buckwheat that will smother everything but also be easy to till in and/or winter kill. I have not tried rye. Any more suggestions? Thanks!
Red clover isn't good for honey bees, they generally can't reach the nectar. The chemical clethodim can be sprayed over top of clover to selectively remove the grass. Red and white clovers hate summer time. Hot dry weather puts them into dormancy so they need to get established early and kept fairly clean.
The cereal rye and crimson clover are companions. They utilize colder weather to establish late into fall and early winter when most grasses are done and then take off earlier in spring than most grasses plus the rye pretty much destroys most everything else.
Sunflowers are pretty hardy, produce a lot of pollen and some nectar. Mustards and canola are very hardy and cold and heat tolerant as well. Bees love brassica blooms. Sweet clover is a biennial legume that takes two years to bloom. It has to be planted thick and it'll usually smother out grasses but it has to have a head start on the grass it can be used on pretty poor soil.
So where are/is state agriculture scientific analysis to elucidate best practice in your area for mite ? So one does not have to wonder too much what one ought to do.
I don't know about specific scientific analysis. I spoke to and listened to many professional beekeepers to come to my decision to test this way.
4:40 Beekeeper could do a little ceremony for the 300 dead bees afterwards, for their heroism.
What type of alcohol are you using? 60%, 70%, 91%, 95%, 99%?
zadidoll 70% isopropyl
Try the Beeweaver bees. They have been treatment free since 2001. Good bees
Purposely kills 200-300 bees "I hope I did it right" and gets 0 mites?
I have a notion that WHEN you treated with the MAQS is just as important as the fact you treated them with the MAQs. If I remember correctly it was already into September when you treated with the MAQS both times and those two hives were unable to rebuild significantly enough and refresh the bees in there to make it through the winter. As you said the MAQS were the nuclear option and maybe it wore down your bees too much before winter hit, but if you were to try with MAQS now a fresh batch of bees would be in there before winter sets in. Maybe the Apivar strips are a more mild treatment for late(sept/oct) season varroa problems and the MAQS could be mid-summer(july/aug) option. Just a theory though as I'm not a beekeeper and most of my knowledge is coming from watching videos on TH-cam and doing some random research.
I think my main problem was both times I used the MAQS, the hives were already too far gone. The bees recovered well after treatment and the queens were both laying again, but I think there were probably diseases or some other weakness that was not overcome by the hives. The Apivar treated hives were far less infected to begin with. I don't want to blame the hive deaths on the treatment!
Not sure if you've heard of this or not, but I just saw a video the other day about something called the varroa gate. It looks like it is the same concept as the apivar strips but looks like it's meant to prevent an outbreak as much as treat an outbreak. Might be something to look into.
(In My opinion) Mite away quick strips(MAQS) mess with the hive so use in the springtime. It needs to be DONE and taken OFF before the honey supers go on. Apivar goes on after the honey flow. (also My Opinion) Also dont just keep strictly using a single poison or the mites will get use to the poison.
Just a thought. Instead of going straight to the alchohol why not use the sugar test to see if you have mites then when confirmed you can do an alchohol test to get the specific mite load. That way you would not have to sacrifice bees if there are no mites.
I do not have a problem with what you did and I understand it but you seamed apprehensive to do the alchohol then kind of bummed when the mite test came out 0 and you had killed the bees (0 is good though) this way you would know you have mites and then the alchohol test would be required to get the accurate mite load.
Just a thought.
Love the vedios. Please keep them coming. Been watching since your first year and have been happy and sad with you thru your ordeal.
They(the bees)almost feel like they are mine and I suffer when there is a problem as if they were mine.
I think you have done a great job with the bees and you have thought me a lot that I will use next spring after retiring this fall when I get my hives.(I will have the proper time to devote to the bees then as it should be.
Steve Welches Because I have heard from several beekeepers that a sugar test may not reveal the true level of mites. It can give you false confidence thinking you're fine, when in reality, the mite load is worse than you think. There's no fooling the alcohol test.
Vino Farm
Ok
Good job - and job well done. And lots of good tips - some of which you figured out on your own when you started editing and watched what you had done! Chin up, the results were good.
IMHO your logic is correct and you are doing the best for your hives. Thanks for the continuing education!
Have you tried a CO² testing?
No, I have not.
@@vinofarm
th-cam.com/video/CIHexu7M5wI/w-d-xo.html
It's a little bit the same.
You use CO², the bee's and the mites fall asleep.
It looks a little bit heavy but the bee's wake up after a few minutes.
We check our bees 4 times a year with the alcohol wash.
After you kill them with the initial alcohol, I think you are supposed to add more water, to the line near the top of the label. This gives you a 1:4 alcohol water ratio.
Also, there are two lines in the tray. Lower is 200 bees and upper is 300.
And best to use nurse bees on open frames of brood not capped brood.
I doubt any of the above would have changed your result significantly.... So lesson learned for next month's test.
Taking bees from open brood cells makes sense. I read the instructions and didn't see anything about adding water. I'm not sure how it would change the result. The bees are still submerged and sloshing around in liquid (alcohol). I will test again in a few weeks and try open brood frames.
Vino Farm I watched the official video from the manufacturer... Starts around 1:45
th-cam.com/video/QxYE2LLTYAo/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the link. I just watched and it looks like I did everything they did except I had more fluid in the bowl to begin with. They added more alcohol, not water. And at 2:50 on that video, they were scraping bees off of a frame with clearly capped cells. Maybe the written directions on the package are different than the video. Either way, I think I'm OK. Thanks again.
A big problem in Australia are the beetles, they’ve wiped out a lot of bee hives.
beetles aren't a problem , you dont know problems if you think hive beetles are a problem
Thanks for always being honest with us sir. I enjoy how informative and all around kind and aware you are.
Where can I get that
The product is linked in the description.
Do you think using a 1/4 cup measuring cup 2x would get it more accurate?
Sorry But I have to tell you that we also have the mites in Australia 2020 onwards
If you use an all natural treatment that doesn’t harm the bees, can’t you just skip the test, randomly treat the colony and not lose any bees?
Which all natural treatment have you used with success? Please let me know!
When the alternative is the potential for thousands dead, deformed, diseased, and likely to infect on an exponential scale, you do what you have to do! It would make no sense to sacrifice the incredible progress that you've made this year, for the sake of a few hundred...many of which would have sacrificed themselves in other ways, for the sake of the hive.
Keep doing what you do.
And release the next video as fast as possible.Cant wait for it .