When I get my bees and install them...

[Moonshae]

...do I need to medicate? I expect my hives tomorrow and my bees at the end of the week. I ordered top feeders for both hives, rather than front feeders. I'm starting with deep broods, but I'm hoping to add only mediums for additional brood and honey supers for interchangeability. Had I gotten involved here first, I'd have built my own starter hive from mediums, but it's too late for that now, so I thought a deep base and two mediums on top (eventually) will suffice, without becoming too inconvenient for me. I'm still young, so 10-framers aren't going to pose a weight issue (yet). My county recommends that "being a good neighbor" involves no more than 3 hives on my size of property, so expansion is limited.

[doak]

It all depends. If you are going to try to go treatment free in the future I wouldn't medicate.
If you are starting with new equipment you will not have any left over bad stuff.
doak

[Jerrymac]

Do you medicate yourself if there is nothing wrong?

[DavePaulson]

U of Minnesota recomends feeding one gallon of syrup with fumagilin-b.

Dave

[Jerrymac]

Here are some instructions;

"Fumagilin-B should be administered in the early spring or late winter before the excess honey flow and in the fall after the excess honey flow. Fumagilin-B must not be fed during an excess honey flow."

So would now be a good time to do it?

[Moonshae]

Here are some instructions;

"Fumagilin-B should be administered in the early spring or late winter before the excess honey flow and in the fall after the excess honey flow. Fumagilin-B must not be fed during an excess honey flow."

So would now be a good time to do it?

I have no idea when the honey flow is...I'm just starting out with packaged bees that should arrive this week, and have not had any experience with this. From what I've read here, there seems to be more than one flow here in NJ. Since I missed the mite treatment time in the early spring (not having had any bees), I wasn't sure if letting them go until the fall treatment is safe.

And regarding whether I medicate myself if nothing is wrong, I do, if I anticipate there could be something in the future (antacids before a possible heartburn-inducing meal, for example). Waiting until there's a problem doesn't seem to be the wisest course of action, both in personal and beehive health. Preventive measures are frequently safer and more effective than treatment of a problem.

Thanks!

[Jerrymac]

Here is the way I look at it. I imagine that you medicate when there isn't a flow so that the meds don't get into the honey. But it seems to me that the bees store this stuff in the brood nest if they don't need all that feed. Now bees are known to move stuff around, like honey and wax. So some of this stuff that is stored now could be moved into the honey later. Also what if a heavily medicated hive has a lot of this stuff stored and for some reason the hive dies or absconds. Then other bees come in and rob it out, taking the medicated stores of the abandoned hive and storing it with their honey.

I envision the same thing happening with sugar water. feeding all the time will pollute the natural honey with sugar water honey.  :shock: YIPES!!!! I agree with Finsky on something.  :shock:

[Brian D. Bray]

Treating for non-existance problems is one way to create more problems--ever heard of bacteria immune to antibiotics.  When you treat something (even yourself) for something you don't have you are usually using small insufficient doses.  Most animals have bad bacteria and viruses in their system at all times.  It is only when those bad bugs become numerous that we encounter a problem.  Undermedicating allows those bugs to develop an tolerence or immunity to the drug used to control it under conditions that fosters disease outbreaks.

Self treatment now can mean a weakened immune system later. 

I don't medicate my bees with anything but natural methods just like I don't use chemicals in my vegetible garden.  I don't need things that might prove harmful in my system.  Any gardener who can't achieve good results using natural methods has no business calling themselves as master gardener.  Just my opinion.

[Michael Bush]

>...do I need to medicate?

I haven't used fumigillan or fumidil ever and I've been doing this since 1974.  If you like "better living through chemistry" go for it.

I consider a beehive a food container and I don't put things in there I wouldn't want to eat.

[Moonshae]

Fair enough! I'd much prefer not to use chemicals, too. My garden is organic, and if I can keep close to that with my hives, all the better. I just didn't want to skip something important or do something they don't need that would jeopardize the hive's success.

[Bennettoid]

Wow, This is the first I 've read that you shouldn't use Fumigellin on new packaged Bees.

Interesting.