mite fall after thymol treatment

[Zoot]

While mites appeared to be virtually non-existant in several of my hives I decided to treat 2 of them that had produced a few during a series of weekly sugar shakes back in August. The results have been a bit unsettling; in both hives the earlier mite counts had been minimal, never more than 5 to 10 and sometimes none. Since the thymol treatments (2 treatments in Sept and early Oct) mites have been falling onto the sticky boards in large numbers and they're still falling - is this typical of a thymol treatment?

[BeeHopper]

While mites appeared to be virtually non-existant in several of my hives I decided to treat 2 of them that had produced a few during a series of weekly sugar shakes back in August. The results have been a bit unsettling; in both hives the earlier mite counts had been minimal, never more than 5 to 10 and sometimes none. Since the thymol treatments (2 treatments in Sept and early Oct) mites have been falling onto the sticky boards in large numbers and they're still falling - is this typical of a thymol treatment?

With 2 years experience with Apiguard, yes. I treat for a total of 6 weeks straight, Thymol knocks the mites down pretty well for me. 

[Zoot]

I actually used a paste solution that a neighbor gave me, probably similar to Apiguard in content. What I wasn't prepared for was the number of dead mites. I do very thorough sugar shakes and the previous evidence of mite infestation was minimal.

[kathyp]

with the sugar shakes, the mites may end up covered or leaving the BB, before you see them.  they are very hard to count if they get PS on them.  also, the PS depends on the bees being very good at grooming and it is only designed to keep numbers down.  the last report i saw ( and i can't remember where) had the PS treatment at about 50% effectiveness and then only if done repeatedly over a period of months.  maybe someone remembers the article.

they were not at all discouraging the use of powdered sugar.  it does help a lot if you keep at it.  i think you just have to realize that it may not be enough and keep an eye on things.

[Brian D. Bray]

Sugar shakes were never meant to be a cure, just a control.  The key to using sugar shakes is to do 3-5 treatments--one every 10 days.  5 treatments will give better results than 4 or 3.  I view sugar shakes as a temporary bandaid until the bees develop a resistance.  Resistance is better that all the chemical treatments in the world.

[Zoot]

Actually my primary interest in sugar shakes is as an indicator; In the case of these 2 hives the results of over 2 months of thorough shakes seems oddly skewed against the evidence (large numbers of dead mites) that has mounted since my thymol treatments. Hence the question at the end of my earlier post - is it typical for mites to continue falling from a thymol treatment even up to 2 weeks after the treatment? It's been 12 days now and I'm finding dead mites on the ssb insert of one of the hives.

[kathyp]

i had not noticed it, but two things occur to me.  1.  it might be a testament to the hygienic behavior of your bees -or- 2.  if the SBB of your hives is a bit clogged up, it might just be dead mites coming through as things are stirred up.

don't know when you last cleaned your screen, but i was amazed at how much stuff can accumulate on there.  pollen, bee and other insect parts, etc.