Jessica Martin Realty
  • Home
  • About
  • Testimonials
  • For Sale & Sold
  • Blog
  • Contact Me

The Martin Hives Get Treated for Mites...

11/20/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
Keeping your bees alive through the winter is one of the greatest challenges for us New England backyard beekeepers.  One of the most important steps in fall hive management is checking (and treating) your hives for the infamous varroa mite.  
Picture
Picture
Varroa destructor (Varroa mite) is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis.  The Varroa mite can only reproduce in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee by sucking fat bodies. The species is a vector for at least five debilitating bee viruses, including RNA viruses such as the deformed wing virus (DWV). A significant mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring. The Varroa mite is the parasite with possibly the most pronounced economic impact on the beekeeping industry. Varroa is considered to be one of multiple stress factors contributing to the higher levels of bee losses around the world.      (From Wikipedia)
​If you find that you have a mite count in your hive that is above the acceptable threshold, you need to treat the hive and hope it's not too late for your colony.  We found a high mite count in one of our hives so we decided to treat all three with oxalic acid. 

What is oxalic acid?  Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring acid found in plants. It became popular in Europe & Canada for treating Varroa Mites in a honey bee hive and has now been approved by the EPA to treat honey bee colonies in the United States.  

​To apply the oxalic acid to our bees, we use the vaporizer method.  The nifty contraption I'm holding in the photo above is our vaporizer.  We place some oxalic acid powder into the vaporizer, slide it in to the hive entrace, block the entrance to keep the fumes in and hook the vaporizer up to a small tractor battery.  The vaporizer heats up and turns the powder to vapor which rises throughout the hive treating all the bees for mites.  The gas is safe for the bees but we humans are not supposed to breathe it in, thus the respirator.    

Our hives are looking pretty strong so we're hoping this helps them get through the winter.  Cross your fingers for them! 
1 Comment
Vidmate link
10/7/2022 06:39:29 am

To compensate for this when you use honey instead of white sugar in baking, reduce the amount of whatever liquid the recipe calls for.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Jessica Martin
    ​I'm a realtor (CT & MA) who keeps bees. Selling houses and honey. Get some!
    .

    Picture
    Call
    Text 
    or 
    ​Email
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly