Late fall Sampling method and results.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ต.ค. 2023
- Still looking for mites. This video shows my complete sampling method. I pool samples from 3 strong and 3 weak hives from each site and wash them separately. Typically the weak hives show mites first. I’m not sure if that is cause or effect. I’m using the bee sucker my son Tim made for me with his 3D printer.
Hey Phil this was very interesting. I have never seen that method used before. Interesting results. Great job keeping records. I am not good at doing that. Best of luck this year.
Thanks 👍
I love that you involved the tech program
Hi Phil, we really enjoy your video and appreciate your effort sharing your experiences. I was curious how you converted the mini extractor to collect the nurse bees in the tube cannister. Thanks, keep them coming! 🐝
He did a video all about it check the link.
Thanks for your kind words. My son designed and 3D printed that.
He should market this attachment, I have searched the internet and there's nothing available.
I’ve always thought a bracket that clamps a couple jars, and slides into the blade mounting system of a reciprocating saw or “”sawsall” would work great as a shaker
Hey. That’s a good idea. I’ll cook something up.
Healthy chunk of late emergence in those nests. I never did get into mine to check. That would definitely decrease the late OAV treatment efficacy
There is always that mystery of why one site has so many more than another. OAV in the late fall is often the treatment of choice but with some brood in the box what could you use? Is it too cool for Formic and/or Apigaurd?
Bees are all inside now. I’m behind on my video editing. I’m going to try and treat inside.
A "weak" hive with lots of brood and no mites screams late swarm to me with a young queen, but remember any mites they may have are under that brood. We all test the weak hives, thinking we will find the mother load of mites, but the reality is there is less brood with less opportunity for mites to reproduce. My weak colonies are late swarming or old queens or poor nutrition. The strong colonies that never swarmed are my mite bombs. They felt compelled to raise more drones all summer where mites reproduce in drone cells. The strong usually still have late drones, and those drones test high in an alcohol wash. When they boot the drones, the mite bomb begins.
Have all of your hives received the same mite treatments this yeat?
Yes. Two rounds of thymovar and one round of oxalic. Should be two rounds of oxalic but winter came early.
Why do you collect all the bees from all the hives? Seems taking samples from each hive and checking each sample individually would give you a better feel of each individual hive. This is the first time I’ve seen your site so I may have missed your exclamation.
Not to speak for Phil, but I do the same thing during quick broadcast assessments. Sampling each colony provides more information but he has segregated colonies into groups (possible problems, probably okay) , which the composite sampling will provide the information that he’s looking for. That information is mites or no mites.
Correct Ian. I’m managing site by site not hive by hive. So I want a pooled sample. There is risk of under measuring infections by diluting an infected hive with a neighbouring uninflected one. That is why I’m sure to look at a sample of all weak hives.
That's a cool little vacuum attachment to get them into the jar.. Where'd you get that? Is it 3D printed?
Yes. My son designed and printed that.