Number of times treating in a treatment?

[GSF]

In a treatment I usually treat my bees every 7 days for 3 or 4 weeks. Should I only treat 3 times instead of four? In treating livestock I usually treat 3 times at 7 to 10 day intervals. I use OA vaporizing.

[sc-bee]

Depends on the time of year and brood conditions, as I understand it. But just got my vaporizer, so new at it. Three week treatments 7 days apart in summer and one in late fall when mostly bloodless followed by an early spring treatment. I hope to do rolls and determine from there. Last article J. Berry put out she recommended treating at three mites per 100 bees, due to all the pest and viruses today.

"The latest research suggests the economic threshold for Varroa is now three mites per 100 bees. In the old days, before the recently introduced viruses, small hive beetles, rising stresses from limited nutrition and growing toxin levels in the environment, upwards to 15 mites per 100 bees was considered tolerable."

Full article- where they talk about caging the queen for 21 days in summer.... to induce broodless
http://www.beeculture.com/oxalic-acid-effective-easy-on-bees-but/

[texanbelchers]

I haven't had issues yet, but understand the mite carry thru drift is significant.  So, treat all your hives in an apiary at the same time.  3 by 7 or 4 by 5 seems to be the going rules; depends on access and availability.  In any case you want to cover the 21 day cycle time when there is capped brood.  If you can catch them with no capped brood, then your one and done; hence once in the late fall.  I always have brood here, so no easy outs.

You can test and start treating when necessary or just treat on a schedule.  It seems to me that at least one hive will need it, so they all get it on a schedule that is convenient to me.  3 by 7 fits my calendar.

I have read that it is OK to do with a young/virgin queen.  I did one that I thought was queen-less, but they actually had a wounded, runt of a queen that started laying 3 weeks late.  It is still there, but barely making it.  I don't think the OAV damaged her, but...   I'll be replacing her next spring.

[Michael Bush]

>In a treatment I usually treat my bees every 7 days for 3 or 4 weeks. Should I only treat 3 times instead of four? In treating livestock I usually treat 3 times at 7 to 10 day intervals. I use OA vaporizing.

I don't treat at all... but if there is no brood in the hive, once is plenty.  If there is brood, then once a week has the advantage of catching the ones that were in the cells during the first treatment.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesvarroatreatments.htm