Varroa in drone brood

[Bridget]

Went to help a friend find and mark her queen today in the glorious weather - all successful. However she pulled off some drone brood that was sticking out and we checked it later. It seems that there are about 4 mites average per larva. Neither of us have done this type of check before so we think that is rather a lot but are not sure. See photo. Do you recommend immediate treatment for the varroa? They are on brood and a half. She would like to use MAQS as it does not effect the honey and the temperature is good but is not sure if it is really necessary. Bearing in mind that we are just at the start of done brood up here - I don't have any yet. She is worried that if she left till autumn treatment it would be too late. Any help would be great. Thanks from Bridget and Sally
2279

[Black Comb]

Look on page 19 of this NBU publication.
More than 10% is serious.

http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=16

[busybeephilip]

Sounds like a good strong hive and the mites you are seeing are concentrating in the drone brood. Without knowing the varroa drop/sugar counts etc to determine varroa population, to be sureI'd take one of the half frames and fit it with drone foundation or thin strip foundation then let the queen lay it up, allow it to be sealed, remove the frame (before hatching) , cut out and destroy the brood then put frame back in again for the process to be repeated. This will trap the varroa mites as they prefar drone brood, you can examine the capped brrod and detmine the extent of infestation, and you wont have to worry about treatment till the end of the season

[busybeephilip]

MAQS - personally I'd keep clear of this stuff, formic acid is well known to cause problems with queens being balled . Saying that , others have used it with no apparent problems but I know of too many that have lost queens and will not use it again. The last thing you want is to loose a queen at this stage of the season.

[Adam]

If there is not significant sign of varroa damage to the wings of the workers and you don't see varroa scuttling about or on bees, I might be inclined to put in a super frame in the full-sized box and then remove the drone comb that's build underneath it; once the drone cells are capped. As a part of IPM, this will help keep numbers down.


I have concerns about MAQS - I lost a queen last year as a result of it. I treated 3 colonies this year; used 1/2 dose on two and a full dose on one. For the full-dose lot, after a few hours bees were staggering out of the hive and falling off the landing board to die on the grass outside. My guess is that few hundred bees died, fortunately the queen wasn't one of them in this case.

[Bridget]

Thanks all - I've passed on your thoughts. I also have concerns about MAQS. Horrid stuff


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[GRIZZLY]

I lost 3 colonies after using MAQS. Killed the queens and went queenless with no chance of recovery. I DEFINATELY WON'T USE IT AGAIN. It's much too dangerous . I will continue to use drone comb to produce sacrificial drone brood - but not too often.

[Jon]

I treated 12 colonies with MAQS and lost about 4 queens immediately and another 3 or 4 were superseded shortly afterwards.
A lot of the other Irish beekeepers I know had similar problems.
I was aware of the risks before I treated and I had a lot of queens in apideas at the time to use as replacements.
I would have to have a desperate situation before I would use it again.
I lost queens even when a single strip was applied ie half dose.
I didn't have it anywhere near any colonies with queens I use as breeders as I knew the risks.
A lot of the chatter about MAQS suggests that it was tested on colonies which are much larger than a lot of us keep in the British isles, ie tested on Ligustica colonies.

[Adam]

The colonies I have treated were all double brood - either WBC's or Nationals. Entrances open fully, mesh floors open. And not excessive temperatures. One thing that seems at odds with husbandry in late summer is to slide one box off the other a to create a gap - at exactly the time of year when wasps numbers are at their highest. Maybe the stench of MAQs is enough to keep wasps at bay?

[Jon]

I followed the instructions and had an empty brood or super above the strips.
To no avail!
Was not too hot here either.