I have recently read that adding garlic powder in the sugar dust aids in removing varroa mites. Does anyone know more about how garlic helps and if they have tried this before? How much do you add per hive/treatment?
Any powder works with removing mites. It is the bees cleaning themselves that knocks the mites loose.
Does anybody else heard anything about how garlic powder helps in getting rid of mites?
Dust especially sugar causes the bees to clean themselves up. Just wondering if the garlic helps in the bees immune system in anyway.
I never heard anything like this. I would not put garlic powder in my beehives, even if it was ok to do this.
Hi Mathew,
No, I wouldn't recommend it.
Some people think garlic is helpful to the HUMAN immune system, or that is it helpful to humans because compounds in garlic are antibacterial. Bees are biologically very different - remember that they don't even have blood as we usually think of it. So just because garlic might help humans doesn't mean it would help bees. It might even hurt them!
Also, even if garlic worked to help the bees' immune system, that would not help with mites. Mites are a parasite - they bite the bees and suck their body fluids. The bees' immune system cannot stop problems with mites.
I suggest you stick to plain sugar for your dusting.
Not to mention what would it do to any uncapped honey - garlic flavored honey anyone? Sure, almost all would fall down past, but a little garlic goes a long way.
JC
Quote from: greenbtree on September 01, 2010, 05:37:18 PM
Not to mention what would it do to any uncapped honey - garlic flavored honey anyone? Sure, almost all would fall down past, but a little garlic goes a long way.
JC
I just read that someone in UK used garlic powder and he does not recommend it coz his honey was garlic flavoured even after a year has past. He found it very difficult to get rid of the taste of garlic from the comb. This is what I read from a UK forum:
clintonbemrose 02-10-2003, 12:59 PM
I tried the garlic and powdered sugar on top bars 2 years ago on 2 hives. It did nothing for the mites and the honey was more garlic than honey. that fall I burned the combs and frames and put new frames and foundation in. This year I still could taste the garlic in the honey so I moved the bees to new hives and burnt the old ones frames, foundation, and hivebodies. Both hives were 3 bodies deep. So I would not recomend garlic within 50 feet of a hive
I used it once to get rid of VHB (Vampirized honey bees).
Scott
Quote from: hardwood on September 01, 2010, 07:30:23 PM
I used it once to get rid of VHB (Vampirized honey bees).
Scott
Is that a problem in your area? And how do they do with AHB if both are in the same area?
I don't know if it helps, but IF it helps it's probably because it stimulates the grooming behavior more than powdered sugar alone. I have my doubts that it does, but that would be the only reason I can see it would work any better than powdered sugar alone. Any powder, including garlic powder, will help. Even flour.
Dont use anything other than sugar-reason being-it will dry out the larve-and kill it-sugar wont
also -its not the grooming that makes sugar efective-it is the fact that the mites hold on with suction cups and they cant latch on when the bees are dusted-belive it or not- :lol: RDY-B
Quote from: hardwood on September 01, 2010, 07:30:23 PM
I used it once to get rid of VHB (Vampirized honey bees).
Scott
I found little crosses glued right above the entrance is a great preventative to VHB :-D.
The AHBs don't have any trouble with the VHBs. The VHBs know that the AHBs will use their voodoo magic on them and turn them into zombie bees.
JC
ZHB? I've never even HEARD of those! :-D
Scott
So are the ZHB affected by the mites since they are already dead?