I understand that during the summer that a break in the brood will reduce the varroa from reproducing. How do varroa mites surive winter with out the brood?
The queen is still laying in the winter, just very very few in number compared with summer.
With their heads under the covers! :-D
The foretic(sp?) mites survive in the cluster along with SHB and anything else that's nasty.
Scott
Allen's right, here in FL we have no true break in the brood cycle...just a slow down.
Scott
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It depends what kind of winter you have.
In Finland hives are broodless 5-6 months.
Mites will die here about 50% what is same figure as died bees during winter. Mites suck blood of bees.
Finski is right, a lot depends on where you live and since you didn't give your location..............
With our nights well below zero (F) in N/W Wisconsin I doubt my queens are laying much right now. A lot also has to do with daylength. Come January, viable queens begin in earnest to lay eggs, cold or not. Ample stores and their ability to move to them becomes extremely important, as extreme cold will prevent bee cluster from moving to honey very near.
Now, give us your location so beeks in your area can be more helpful. ;)
thomas
Sorry, forgot the original Q;
for my bees I haven't ever (I'm knocking on my head now) had much problem w/ varroa. I do see some, no more than 100 or so, on a bottom board from time to time, but even the "cleaned out" bees in front of my Long Hive I checked just yesterday were mite free, dead, but mite free and other wise, healthy "looking."
thomas
Denmark et al. (2000) describes the life cycle of V. destructor as very much synchronized with that of its honeybee host. It is thought that the hormones or pheromones of honeybees are necessary for the mite to complete its development. CHBRC (UNDATED) found that the average life expectancy for V. destructor is about 50 days during the breeding season.In bees without brood, the adult female mites can survive several months, feeding on the adult bees.
RDY-B
That makes sense. The varroa have an over wintering group that is dormant and has a longer life cycle, just like the bees in the cluster.
With this in mind, when is the best time to treat? In the spring when they are weak and just getting started or the fall when you want to reduce the population going into the cluster?
That depends a lot on your treatment methods. Most that use the commercially available treatments treat twice a year...spring and (when mite counts can be their highest) fall. Many of these treatments require that the bees be active enough to roam around the hive to come in contact with the delivery system (tapes, strips etc).
Acid ( formic and oxalic) fumigation doesn't require this type of contact however the formic acid is delivered through a saturated pad that is placed within the hive and is only effective within a certain temperature range. Oxalic acid is delivered through either a "drip" wherein a liquid solution is drizzled between the frames directly on the bees no more than once a year and not so dependent upon the weather (however you wouldn't want to chill the brood or bees in cold weather) or by vaporization in which the crystals are heated and the resulting vapor is distributed throughout the hive. This latter system is the one I personally prefer as it is quick, not so temperature specific and is cheap (not to mention that OA is naturally present in the hive/honey to begin with).
There are many forms of varroa control and each has to decide what's best for them...I'm sure others will chime in here and give you a totally different approach!
Scott
I am limited to when i treat a great deal because -I try to get as much honey as i can-my state is not easy to get huge yields so i have suppers on early and on all hives that will make a crop-so for me it is of course before honey flow-without that restraint the best time is before your mites get to a level of 3%-10%
depending the time of year-simple mite wash of 1/4 cup(300) bees will give you your counts -RDY-B
Quote from: ty1on on December 16, 2010, 08:13:43 PM
That makes sense. The varroa have an over wintering group that is dormant and has a longer life cycle, just like the bees in the cluster.
With this in mind, when is the best time to treat? In the spring when they are weak and just getting started or the fall when you want to reduce the population going into the cluster?
you say* varoa has a longer life cycle* one thing to remember is that your WINTER BEES will live 90-120 days
as compared to SUMER BEES that live 6 weeks -But once weakened by varoa they have been compromised and so has the longevity of the bee-RDY-B
Quote from: T Beek on December 16, 2010, 08:16:16 AM
. Come January, viable queens begin in earnest to lay eggs, cold or not.
Our queens start to lay or it is better to say that bees start nurse some larvae at the end of February.
It may be out -20C and bees have a little patch of brood, about 10 cm wide. It happens before cleansing flight.
The queen lay much but bees do not feed larvae.
When I start patty feeding at the beginning of April, they are able to rear 3-4 frames of brood. Not more. It is lack of nurser bees I suppose.
For myself, I won't treat unless I see more mites than I have. And then I'll use powdered sugardusting. If they still are succumbed by the mites, that'll be that. I won't treat with chemicals, so I'd let them go. But that's me.
thomas
Once varroa mites get into a hive they will remain regardless of time of year. In the Spring, Summer, and Fall a good number of bees are shed from the bees from movement (bucked off) and are replenished from the invasion of brood cells. During the winter there generally is not enough movement amoungst the bees to shake off the mites and transfer from one bee to another is much easier.
My treatment for varroa consists of interrupting the brood cycle, which for Italians usually means splitting the hive or caging the queen, whereas Russian bees do it on their own. Probably one of the major reasons Russians are more varroa resistant.
Quote from: Brian D. Bray on December 24, 2010, 06:12:27 PM
My treatment for varroa consists of interrupting the brood cycle, which for Italians usually means splitting the hive or caging the queen, whereas Russian bees do it on their own. Probably one of the major reasons Russians are more varroa resistant.
HIT the nail right on the head-man knows his TREATMENTS- ;) RDY-B