Varroa mite control: traditional and experimental methods of processing hives and treating bees
Varroatosis is a dangerous disease of bees, without treatment for two or three seasons, it can lead to the extinction of the swarm. Called by the Varroa destructor mite. The parasite causes bee stunting, wing loss, and many other negative effects, including viral and bacterial infections, eventually killing the entire colony. Varroosis, however, is nothing new because beekeepers have been fighting it since the 1980s. This article is about the treatment of bees from varroatosis.
Content
- Varroatosis of bees: general characteristics of the disease
- Methods for diagnosing varroatosis
- The use of chemicals, in which months which drug should be used in the fight against bee mites
- Formanins: bipin, anitraz, tactin
- Varroatosis of bees: treatment with folk remedies
- Physical methods
- Zootechnical methods of combating varroatosis
- Consequences for bees
- Prevention of ticks in bees
Varroatosis of bees: general characteristics of the disease
It affects both adult bees and larvae. At an early stage of the disease, there are no signs, so beekeepers do not suspect anything.
Bees infected with a mite hibernate badly, wake up ahead of time and behave restlessly, do not form a swarm. They are prone to overeating and against this background may suffer from diarrhea.
Appearance of the tick: photo
Ways and ways of infecting bees with a tick
The spread of varroatosis between apiaries is facilitated by:
- robberies of bees from strong and healthy colonies, attacks on weak and sick colonies;
- bees fly between hives;
- migratory drones that fly to other hives;
- infected traveling swarm;
- trade in queen bees;
- contacts of queens and drones during mating flights;
- a beekeeper when working in an apiary, for example, by transferring combs with infected brood to healthy colonies;
- pests of bees and bee nests, such as wasps, which often rob honey from hives.
How does the disease develop?
In an infected bee, the following is observed:
- weight loss by 5-25%;
- reduction of life by 4-68%;
- the development of the bee is also disturbed.
General effects of feeding Varroa destructor on brood:
- shortening of the abdomen;
- underdevelopment of wings;
- brood death.
The development of mites on the brood causes a violation of metamorphosis, significant developmental anomalies are found in infected bees. For this reason, healthy bees throw them out of the hive after a few days.
How the disease manifests itself symptoms clinical picture
Flocks of infected bees become "lazy", and the work of the family is inefficient.
Minor paralysis significantly weakens the family and significantly reduces its productivity.
This lack of symptoms often euthanizes beekeepers who do not initiate family treatments. The parasite population then grows freely. Female Varroa destructor and her offspring damage the brood. While there is a lot of brood in the family, the symptoms of varroatosis do not appear. In the future, the family weakens, often ending with the extinction of the family or the bees leaving the hive.
Methods for diagnosing varroatosis
Inspection of the apiary for the presence of Varroa destructor in the spring and at the end of the harvesting season consists of:
- inspecting the brood, especially the drone brood;
- during the season, watching the brood thrown out of the hive and the death of bees;
- during the honey flow, they examine the uterus and bees on the combs;
- randomly opens a dozen / several dozen cells with a drone brood.
Only early diagnosis of varroatosis before the onset of clinical symptoms can help reduce parasitic infestation. If you suspect the development of varroatosis, collective autumn samples should be collected from several hives and sent for laboratory research. This is done before the first flight or immediately after the flight, so that the bees do not have time to clean the bottom on their own.
The use of chemicals, in which months which drug should be used in the fight against bee mites
To combat the parasite, both chemical and biological methods are used. The best results are obtained when both methods are used simultaneously.
For example, removing drone brood during the season can reduce the parasite population in the hive by more than 60%. During the season, the use of organic acids, such as formic acids, is also acceptable, but there are more and more opinions that they have a negative effect on bee organisms.
The use of synthetic preparations is allowed only during the non-melting period, so that the active compounds from them do not get into the consumed honey.
Formanins: bipin, anitraz, tactin
The same effective drugs against varroatosis, but the release form is different:
- Bipin - the active substance amitraz, is available in ampoules. Before use, it is diluted per liter of water - 0,5 ml of the substance. Processing is carried out after honey is pumped out and before wintering of bees.
- Anitraz - is available in the form of a spray, after treatment, the effect persists for 2 months.
- Tactin is the active ingredient of amitraz. The processing of hives is also carried out in the fall.
Varroatosis of bees: treatment with folk remedies
For the treatment of varroatosis of bees, folk remedies are successfully used. Many beekeepers give them preference due to safety and the absence of time limits on the timing of the event.
| Preparation | Application |
|---|---|
| Formic acid | The bee organism itself produces this acid in a small concentration, so it is well tolerated by insects. For ticks, it is destructive. Warm weather is needed for processing, when the air temperature is at least 25 ℃. Almost 100% acid is used. Oxalic acid can be used in 2 ways: Saturate plates made of cardboard or wood with acid, and wrap them with cellophane, in which holes are made. Arrange in a hive on frames. Place the wicks in small glass containers and pour in the acids. The acid should evaporate and kill the bed bugs. The wicks are hung in the hive on the side of the frames. |
| Oxalic acid | Oxalic acid can be used in 2 ways: Boiled water, cooled to 30℃, is diluted with a 2% acid solution, poured into a spray bottle and sprayed onto each frame. Processing is carried out 4 times per season at an air temperature above 15 ℃. They make smoke guns, use 2g of acid for 12 frames. The treatment should be carried out in early spring, when the mites have not yet spread, but the air temperature should be at least 10 ℃. |
| Lactic acid | Lactic acid, produced by the fermentation of sugar, is one of the most effective means of combating the varroa mite. In addition, it stimulates the immunity of bees, contributes to the improvement of their body. To prepare a 10% solution of lactic acid, boiled water cooled to 30 is used. The solution is poured into a sprayer and each frame in the hive is sprayed at an angle of 45 degrees from a distance of 30-40 cm. 2 days. And also in autumn, in September, after collecting honey. |
| Sugar syrup | Prepare sugar syrup: 1 part water and 1 part sugar. Add 1 ml of lemon essence to one glass of syrup. Pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray it onto the frames. Processing is carried out 4 times with an interval of one week. |
| Capsicum | Grind the pepper, pour boiling water, drain the water after a day and add to the sugar syrup. Per liter of syrup is 120 g of pepper tincture. Some add 20 g of propolis to this solution. This solution is sprayed with bees three times a season with an interval of a week. |
| The use of pine flour | The tick does not tolerate the smell of needles and leaves the hive within a day. Coniferous flour does not have any effect on the bees and the quality of their honey. They take a small amount of flour and pour it into a gauze bag and place it in the hive. For one swarm, 50 g of coniferous flour is enough. |
| Thyme | A fresh plant must be ground and placed in a gauze bag, placed on a frame, covered with polyethylene so as not to dry out. Every 3 days the raw materials need to be changed. This method can be used throughout the season, but at temperatures over 27 ℃ it is ineffective. |
| Lavender essential oil and alcohol 96 | It is necessary to take medical alcohol, add a few drops of lavender oil to it. This mixture is poured into the evaporator and placed in the hive on the frame. You can keep it for 3 weeks, periodically add liquid to the evaporator. |
Physical methods
You can fight the tick by physical means, but they do not affect the parasites that attacked the brood. But for parasites attached to adult bees, they are quite effective.
Zootechnical methods of combating varroatosis
Most mites are found in drone cells. Especially for them, beekeepers put a frame with a strip of foundation lower in height from the rest. The bees start building the combs and the queen sows them. When these honeycombs are sealed, it can be removed. If you put it in boiling water, then the larvae will die, and they can be used as top dressing for bees. The frame can also be used if washed with vinegar.
Since tick-borne diseases in bees are a fairly common problem, manufacturers began to offer hives with an anti-varroatic bottom. A metal mesh is installed in it, under it there is a pallet, which is removed and cleaned. The bottom is covered with oil-soaked paper. The tick crumbles and sticks to it. Then you just need to remove the tray, remove and burn the paper with the tick.
Pseudoscorpions are small arachnids that grow up to 5 mm in length. They could be an excellent biological weapon against mites in bees, and for the destruction of other small parasites. If false scorpions live in a hive, then they do no harm to the bees, and even make friends.
However, so far the number of false scorpions that are found in the hive is not enough to destroy the colony of ticks. A new technology is needed to breed false scorpions outside the hives to increase their population enough to move into the hive. In this case, you can not use any chemicals to destroy varroatosis.
Consequences for bees
If you do not treat Varroatosis or do not notice the disease in time, then the bees will die. It will not be possible to save not only a single swarm, but the entire apiary.
You need to start fighting the tick from the moment you decide to get bees.
Prevention of ticks in bees
Preventive measures can greatly reduce the likelihood of a tick infestation.
If you decide to start bees, try to pick up an apiary in a place where plants that the tick does not like grow there:
- celandine;
- thyme;
- sagebrush;
- tansy;
- mint;
- lavender.
Hives should be well lit by the sun. The distance from the bottom of the hive to the ground should be at least 0 cm. And also an anti-varroatic bottom should be organized in it, which is a special mesh on which garbage gets. Periodically, a swarm of bees needs to be fed in order to increase the resistance of insects to any diseases.
Previous