varroa destructor

[Richard]

Today I found a bee with deformed wings on the ground.  Since this is generally an indication of the presence of Varroa, I slid in a cortex sheet coated with cooking oil under the SBB to get a mite count.  At what point should there be serious concern?  Is there an acceptable count?  I’ve seen several options for controlling/treating for Varroa.  

Powdered sugar dusting
FGMO fogging
Checkmite strips
Api Life VAR

Does anyone have a recommendation for what works best?

imageshack.us/photo/my-images/3/deformedwingvirus.jpg/

Thanks,
Richard

[AllenF]

All bees have mites.    Just something we live with.   If you choose to treat, use all of the above treatments and then some to mix things up.   Don't forget about MAQS and Hopguard.   How long did you leave the sheets in and what count did you have?

[Richard]

I checked the sheet after two hours and counted 4 at that point ...too soon to really know the extent of infestation, I’m sure.  I figured I'd do a total count after 2 or 3 days.  In the meantime, I’ll try to determine what options are the most effective.  This being my first year at beekeeping, it’s a learning curve all the way.  Thanks for the two additional suggestions.

Richard

[saperica]

check mite is OK, api life var or apiguard olso.
check mite leaves residues in wax thymol (api life var, apiguard) not.
in check mite is cumaphos.

[buzzbee]

Check Mite is easily absorbed through your skin. Although I do not know if you would absorb enough to harm you,it is a nerve reactant. If you use this,don't chance it,wear gloves and read the label on the package.

[Richard]

After 48 hours, I had a mite count of 61.  I did a hive inspection yesterday afternoon and spent a bit more time than usual going through the frames.  I installed this package on May 19th and they’ve just now built out 80% of the first 10 frame brood box.   I feel like they’ve been a little slow in building out the frames but, everything looks “Ok”.  I spotted and smashed a few SHB and did see a couple bees running around with mite backpacks.  The bees seem to be managing the pests as far as I can tell…???   I’ve seen threshold recommendations online for the mites that range from 18 to 300+ before taking steps to treat.  The opinion seems to vary greatly for the “acceptable” count.   I did purchase some HopGuard to have available if I need to use it.  I’m inclined to just monitor things for now and let the bess do what they do.

Thanks for the replies,
Richard