We have had our Varroa treatment in the hive for a week and now need to change the pack for the second week.
http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=93 For more information on this parasite which can cause so many problems for the honeybee.
Fortunately, the bees don’t appear to have shown any adverse reaction to the treatment, which is based on thymol. Interestingly the mites favour drone cells for their egg-laying no doubt because of the longer stage of development. We have very few drone cells at present and as we enter autumn they should become even less.
However, we are aware of not using the same treatment on mid-winter treatments. We will most likely go for an oxalic based product.
Although our colony is strong we don’t want the varroa mites to become well established and weakening the colony over a period of time.
Incidentally, we will alternate the base chemicals in the treatment process, where possible, to stop the mites becoming resistant to treatment. We are required to keep a record of the treatments we use. More detailed information can be found here: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?sectionid=110
Because honeybees are classified as livestock in the UK we are required to follow rules and regulations required by the respective government agency. This is a necessary part of beekeeping to maintain healthy honeybees now and in the future.
Incidentally, although this is touched upon in the basic intro to beekeeping we think it should be given greater emphasis, not to discourage beekeeping, but make future beekeepers aware of their obligations.
There is a small growing movement amongst established beekeepers to breed honeybees that are free of the mites through their own efforts. An interesting article can be found here: https://theecologist.org/2010/oct/22/photo-gallery-breeding-bees-resistant-varroa-mite
Pity wasps don’t have this problem as it might reduce their numbers at this time of year. They are still a problem despite the various traps we are using and different baits.