Found my first mites :(

Started by Mamm7215, July 02, 2019, 02:38:45 PM

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Mamm7215

July 02, 2019, 02:38:45 PM
3rd inspection on Saturday.  Good news is I'm getting better at recognizing and finding things.  Found 1 empty queen cup but noticed 2 mites on my bottom sticky board.  Granted, I hadn't checked in 4-5 days so it would seem to indicate a fairly small load but I'll be keeping a close eye on it.  I put a clean board in yesterday so I'll check every 24 hrs for 3 days to see what else shows up.  I'm thinking of using Formic Pro as a formic option.  I also have OA and a vaporizer but don't want to take my honey super off so will likely do the formic if mite count increases.  I've been pretty lucky to have a good laying queen and a strong hive and want to keep on top of it, for now though I'll just be monitoring. 

BeeMaster2

#1
July 02, 2019, 04:07:00 PM
2 mites in 4 days is not much. Much below the threshold for treating.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

CoolBees

#2
July 02, 2019, 04:15:22 PM
Quote from: sawdstmakr on July 02, 2019, 04:07:00 PM
2 mites in 4 days is not much. Much below the threshold for treating.
Jim Altmiller

I concur with that. I'd be happy to have mite levels that low.  :grin:
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Mamm7215

#3
July 03, 2019, 12:39:27 PM
Found another 2 last night on a 24hr check.  Both mites were dead.  The first 2 I saw were still crawling and the first 2 were on the sticky board.  These 2 dead ones were just on a plain old replacement bottom I put in as the 1st board had some mold on it so I threw it out.  I'll continue to do daily checks.

BeeMaster2

#4
July 03, 2019, 04:45:51 PM
There is a good chance that they were mites that were removed by bees from brood. What color were they they? The lighter they are the younger they are.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Mamm7215

#5
July 03, 2019, 04:48:36 PM
They were all quite pale, definitely not the purple I commonly see in pictures.

BeeMaster2

#6
July 03, 2019, 04:55:10 PM
Sounds like young mites that were not ready yet.
Adults are bronze colored.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Mamm7215

#7
July 03, 2019, 06:21:40 PM
Well they were like a pale beige, maybe a light bronze, but not dark at all.

Mamm7215

#8
July 04, 2019, 01:45:14 AM Last Edit: July 04, 2019, 12:34:52 PM by Mamm7215
4 mites tonight, 3 dead.  1 was a darker bronze, other 3 were the pale almost translucent tan.  Living one was pale.  One positive tonight, I successfully tested my homemade OAV vaporizer.  I got a 120v to 12v power supply off amazon.  I had built the unit originally with a car battery in mind but this seemed easier to use at the house.  I can disconnect the wires to use remotely with a battery if needed.  Power supply puts out 30 amps.  Works good so far.  https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B06XJVYDDW?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
Glow plug I'm using is this one: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000C9N54C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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