For the past three weeks we have been treating our hives for Varroa Mites with Oxalic Acid vaporization. We have also been using “Swiffer” sheets to entrap and remove small hive beetles that have exploded on population. For our efforts so far, we have managed to stabilize and make small gains against the Varroa and Small Hive Beetle infestations. We were hoping for better management of these pests, so we have now pivoted to a strategy that adds additional treatment to our hives.
For small hive beetles, we have deployed additional “Swiffer” strips in each hive and added more “beetle blaster” style traps.
For Varroa, we are going to add Formic Pro strips to hives that have more than 3 mites per 250 bees as determined by alcohol wash assay.
Lastly, with our help, the bees have managed to put enough resources on the hives to over winter. We are going to leave the hive top feeders on but not feed for the next week and then decide if we are going to remove them for the season or if we are going to give the bees on last feeding before winter.