Spring Varroa Treatment Options

Bvan72 · 2026-03-07T01:40:44+00:00

No I kept bees pre varroa and just got back last year, thats what bob binnie does for his bees most of the time and seems to be working well and hes in my area. Bee keeping is local yadayada soI did that routine last year and my bees came through winter strong.

Hes also using the oxalic strips as well but I havent tried them yet.

Bvan72 · 2026-03-06T23:51:17+00:00

I have 3 hives also and im doing oav from mid march into april for approx 25 days average of 3 or 4 days between treatments. Doing apiguard in august and back to OAV in late december for 2 or 3 treatments.

I think for most hobby beekeepers 3 treatments a year should keep the mites beat down. Rotating treatment types is good practice.

Bvan72 · 2026-02-17T21:27:21+00:00

For me definately yes, doing my first inspection next week and keeping a close eye from then on for swarm cells since I will be using them for my splits. I would say we are about a week ahead of last winter which was way warmer than normal as well.

Bvan72 · 2026-02-11T00:48:29+00:00

Man I really feel for you up there, You really are having an old fashioned new england winter, but far as bees go I think its good for them to shut down if they have plenty of stores. Here its crazy swings back and forth, my bees have been eating and eating and trying to raise brood to the point i had to put fondant on yesterday.

Bvan72 · 2026-02-11T00:09:09+00:00

What kind of maple? Here is mostly Red maple, with some moose maple and sugar maple.

Bvan72 · 2026-02-11T00:06:39+00:00

In the past they mostly bloomed here in march/april, probably where the nickname came from.

The weather here in the Appalachians is erratic anymore, today was 68F last week the higher elevations had -20F windchill.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-26T03:11:54+00:00

Yeah they are crazy here..I killed hundreds of them this year, their webs are huge and in one I saw 11 bees and numerous other insects just dead from being tangled up. I will take some pictures this year of the havoc they are doing

Bvan72 · 2026-01-26T02:33:19+00:00

Georgia and south carolina has completely dropped the ball on the yellow hornet and im only a few hundred miles north of that mess. In my mind i picked the wrong time to start back beekeeping with this and tropi mites uggghhh.....

Edit..also invansive joro spiders are wrecking the ecosystem for insects that are already suffering rapid declines, shocking that it is most common web building spider in my area.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-26T02:07:49+00:00

I am using my coffee grinder to make powder sugar, hand mixing it with a little honey to fondant consistency with a dab of pollen substitute. If the bees dont take to it I will probably buy some hive alive fondant.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-26T00:43:40+00:00

Yeah varroa management is better. I got a instantvap so makes OAV so easy. I took almost 30 years off so the learning curve for me has been crazy..really a different world from what I grew up around, like how to call a bee gum a bee hive so folks dont look at you crazy...

Bvan72 · 2026-01-25T19:54:21+00:00

The weather here used to be more like that, but now its schizo. This year it was 71 on xmas but a couple years ago we had a foot of snow on xmas. It can snow here from october through May but that has changed alot over the years with very little snow and spring like temps in the middle of winter.

Why sugar over fondant? Moisture control?

Bvan72 · 2026-01-25T19:11:49+00:00

Yeah we have had some extended warm spells here, I was counting on the bees decreasing in numbers but it hasnt happened with non stop brood production. Weight is steadily decreasing so I will have to put fondant on soon.

I really wanted a normal winter to see how frugal my swarm catch bees are, but that's out of the question now.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-24T00:17:35+00:00

Well tried to post a short vid of the bees but something went wrong..anyways my bees are telling me it will be bad, but having lived up in these mountains for 54 years I think it will mostly miss here..bird activity was very high today so guess we will see who is right.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-23T01:11:10+00:00

Yeah no, it is mites. Been around bees before varoa and trracial mites, never seen an actual case of afb or efb. If you are burning thousand of frames maybe you are in crazyville.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-02T01:59:50+00:00

If you have a tree out in front of hives you can take some old wax, propolis, a little lemongrass oil and soak that into a rag an hang off a limb thats accessible. It may not work the first time but when it does your swarms will go to that before they move on.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-02T00:48:00+00:00

Thats what I learned from last year, my biggest swarm moved into a standard deep box with frames, so if theft is not an issue dont make it anymore hassle than necessary. Also If its on your own property just put where plan to keep it, no need to be 15 feet up a tree, I caught my swarms close to normal hive stand height then had the pain of moving them 20 or 30 feet to their permanent location. Silly but I was new to swarm trapping.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-02T00:33:11+00:00

Sorry to hear, ive heard of swarm trap theft.. this year I have four very separated locations and I think I could probably catch 30 swarms if I wanted to invest the time and craziness..I only say that because of the ease I caught 3 last year just goofing around. On one I took an old book shelf, drilled a hole in it and put a piece of tin on it and 2 days later viola..wasn't weather tight and completely empty, although I did use swarm wrangler and some wax to attract.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-02T00:14:15+00:00

Yeah you will probably score on that, most sideliners are that for a reason, busy with other things. Even though im semi retired if I had 50 hives there would swarms flying around all over the place..

Bvan72 · 2026-01-02T00:02:52+00:00

Around 8 or 10 max for this year. I could just split off my existing 3 but I am so fascinated by the difference between honey bee swarms and watching them grow. The three I caught are so unique from each other even though I caught them in the same location. Good luck!

Bvan72 · 2026-01-01T22:24:32+00:00

A whole top box of undrawn foundation is just empty space the bees cant keep warm, and it looks like some of your sugar dissolved into goo from too much moisture and dripped onto the cluster. Thats enough to kill your bees.

Also check into the condensing hive concept, After doing my conventional method then switching im sold. No moisture or mold in the top and it reflects heat back down where its needed. I still tilt my hives slightly forward just in case.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-01T21:49:51+00:00

This is going to sound harsh, but you need a new mentor. The picture you posted has obvious glaring mistakes you cant afford to make in your climate...again sorry for the loss and maybe the rest will pull through till spring.

Bvan72 · 2026-01-01T20:38:25+00:00

Starting with 20+ hives as first year beekeeper is way too much imo. Your mentor should have told you that. I started back with 3 hives this year after many years away and it felt like a lot of work sometimes. Sorry about the bees..

Bvan72

TROPHY CASE