As
we have already said, a good method for both - for inhibition of swarming process
and for reducing the number Varroa mites in bee families in the spring, is the
method of removal of sealed brood, which is widely used in
This
method has worked well in
Let's define the criteria that we need... At first, we must have the sealed brood itself. It should not be much - one or 2 frames ... no more. Otherwise, we will take away a lot of energy from the main working family, which it will spend on feeding and heating of this brood. Secondly, the forces of each family in which the brood will be collected from 3-4 families, should be enough to heat it. Thirdly, in these one or two frames of sealed brood should be gathered almost all the mites that wintered on worker bees ...
When will this moment come and what is its indicator? We think, that free fall of dead mites on sticky board is a pretty good indicator.
Throughout
the winter, the mites drop have relatively small quantities, since the
reproduction process was not possible or was severely limited by a small amount
of early spring brood. This can be seen in all charts of counting of the mites
drop in our four experimental families. A little more or a little less in each
family, but on average, the values are not high.
With the coming of warmth and the beginning of spring development of bees, Varroa mites also begin their development. Gradually, begins the growth of mites drop, consists of dark old mites . Behind it, with some delay, pale-colored immature mites appear in mites drop. This means that the mites have begun their active spring breeding phase. So right now it is needed to be interrupted.
It is at this moment, while the mites have not yet managed to increase their population, and it is necessary to start removal of sealed brood from the main working families, and to formation of prefabricated families from it, which will later be treated with acaricidal preparations or natural acids. As soon as there are drones in bee colonies, fertile queens can be removed from these colonies. After their removal, the bees will lay queen cells on the remains of the open brood. And in a week or two, young bees will come out from sealed brood and only flying bees and unfertile queens will remain in these families. There will be no brood for a long time. There is almost no honey in the nest at this time. And bees can be safely treated against Varroa mites, and with a high degree of efficiency. After processing, these bees can be used to make either non-honeycomb offshoots, or offshoots with honeycombs, or to strengthen those colonies from which the brood was taken.
At 55 degrees north latitude, and when working with Carnica bees, this is around mid-April. By the way, this can be clearly seen from the graph which shows the temperatures in the "streets" of the experimental hive in the period from autumn 2019 to early summer 2020.
The line graph shows the number of mites of both types falling on the sticky board per day. It is clearly seen from the graphs, that the growth of mites drop began in early April, when the bees began to confidently heat 3-4 frames in the nest (that is, 6-8 "streets"), most likely with brood. As a rule, the two central frames should already contain the sealed brood. This also confirms, that with the beginning of the growth of the mites drop, and with the presence of 2-3 frames of sealed brood, it can be removed from the bees family in order to remove Varroa mites together with it. At this time, the largest number of female Varroa mites should be exactly in it. Thus, temperature sensors located in the streets of the hive can be used in order to find this moment, if you do not want to often open the hive and to check the number of frames with brood ...
An additional element of the fight against Varroa mites at this time also becomes building frames from which it is necessary to regularly remove drone brood ( if it is not needed for breeding purposes), in which a lot of female mites may present at this time of the year.
Instead of removed frames with brood, it is better to put clean combs in which the queen can immediately start laying new eggs, and to start feeding bees with syrup. This will make it possible to avoid the weakening of families, which should work on honey collection, as much as possible. The developmental delay will be only a few days.
If it will be a good weather and if it will be a good supply of the families with spring nectar, (and therefore in the presence of a large amount of brood) at the time period before the onset of swarming season, this procedure can be repeated in whole or in part, both in order to extinguish the swarming mood of working families, and in order to create anti-swarming offshoots. The same procedure can be carried out immediately before the main honey harvest, which will free the bees from taking care of the brood and thereby will increase the production of marketable honey. Bee families in which the brood was transferred for further care, should be treated with formic acid. The bees obtained in these colonies, will be free from Varroa mites, and will be able, in the future, compensate the loss of strength of families working at honey harvest, or will be able to become a source of bees for new offshoots ...
Thus, we found out that the best moment for removing of sealed brood from bee colonies, in order to reduce the quantity of Varroa mites, is the beginning of spring, when - 1) there are about two frames of sealed brood present in the family, and - 2) at the same time the mites drop is just starting to increase in relation to the usual winter mites drop, and this situation means, that the female mites are maximally concentrated in the sealed brood in order to start the active reproduction process of new year.
Copyright Sergey Glebskij 2020
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