Anyone use Surrocide?

[Sean Kelly]

I think I have varroa mites (talked about that in another post) and now I'm shopping for medicine.  Saw that Surrocide is okay to use in the summer, unlike some of the other treatments which are only meant for spring and fall. Plus Mann Lake has it on sale for $10.  :-)
Just wanted to get everyone's opinion before buying a jug.

Sean Kelly

[amymcg]

Sucrocide is kind of labor intensive from what I understand. I believe you have to take each frame and spray it down.  If I were you, I would use powdered sugar dusting. Use it for 3 weeks in a row. It has a very good knock down rate and it's cheap.

[Beaches Bee-Haven Apiary]

I have not treated my established hives with sucrocide yet, however, when I installed my packages I sprayed them down with sucrocide and haven't had a noticeable mite problem yet. Last winter my mom noticed a bad mite infestation in her hive. She treated with Api-Stan and it cleared things right up. But than again we have milder winters so we could do that in Feb before the spring flow.

I'm planning on doing the powdered sugar method (mentioned by amymcg) before winter to get my hives ready, I'm hoping not to use any chemicals, but don't we all! :-\ Still, Sucrocide is an "organic" miteacide and that's why I'll use it if I get a really bad infestation. If I were you I'd get some, it may be more labor intensive on you and your bees, but if you have a strong hive, they'll do well.

-Nathanael 8-)