Varroa mites are problematic for all of todays beekeepers. I have recently been looking for a good product to use as a miticide while staying away from chemical usage. As a horticulturalist I know the value of insecticidal soap on soft bodied insects and I am eager to try Sucrocide on my bees this year. I am however looking for some input from folks who have used the product. I don't want to use it if my fellow beekeepers have not had success with it. I am sure, as with any IPM practice, it is not in itself a silver bullet and must be used in concert with other IPM practices at the right time and in the right manner.
Thoughts??
I have about 15 hives and have been using Sucrocide solely for 3 years. I don't count mites but my hives are as healthy as when I used Apistan. I lose one or 2 every winter and get an average of 2 medium supers of honey from each. I would get more honey if I was better at controlling swarming. My bees are gentle: I use smoke only to make them move down into the hive when I want to feed, take out frames, etc. I spray between the frames about 5 times a year particularly in early spring and in the fall. That is very easy to do. Once a year in early fall I take out each frame and spray all the bees. That is much harder work, much more time consuming and by the time I get through with a hive, many soaking wet bees are crawling outside the hive including up my suit. I also spray with Sucrocide when I am moving frames from hive to hive or combining: the theory being that wetting them confuses their organization and covers over their individual hive smell temporarily so that they are not defensive against "outsider" bees.
I really don't know if another method is better, but for me, Sucrocide has been successful. It is also inexpensive.
I look forward to reading other opinions.
Quote from: WhipCityBeeMan on March 04, 2008, 10:45:29 PM
Varroa mites are problematic for all of todays beekeepers. I have recently been looking for a good product to use as a miticide while staying away from chemical usage. As a horticulturalist I know the value of insecticidal soap on soft bodied insects and I am eager to try Sucrocide on my bees this year. I am however looking for some input from folks who have used the product. I don't want to use it if my fellow beekeepers have not had success with it. I am sure, as with any IPM practice, it is not in itself a silver bullet and must be used in concert with other IPM practices at the right time and in the right manner.
Thoughts??
I take exception to your opening statement. I have never had problems with Varroa mites that required mite treatments to keep a colony alive and productive, I've been keeping bees successfully, with the mites, here in Tucson/Marana, Arizona for more than ten years without a mite treatment (except, recently with some small-cell), and I've never used any other chemical treatments, ever -- except recently I began using Bt for wax moth larvae.