And here again the APIVOX project is doing what scientific organizations directly related to beekeeping should have done for a long time, and what they should have told beekeepers about at every corner! We made simple calculations of the effectiveness of using various methods of combating varroatosis, and realized, that most likely their results are hidden from beekeepers in order to provide profits to those who produce chemicals that poison bees, honey, and you and me! These results indicate that the chemicals, with all their effectiveness, are just enough not only to prevent the mites from killing the bees, but to ensure the survival of both them the bees and the mites, in order to keep this rich market for future sales ...
In order not to be unfounded, we will now consider all the
variants we have calculated for keeping bees with and without the use of
chemicals and other drugs and techniques. We chose a simple figure of 100 mites
per colony at the beginning of the first year of control as the baseline. In
total, we will consider three years if the bees, according to our calculations,
will be alive to see it ...
The
first variant -
This is a classic variant that was used by old beekeepers at a time, when not
much was known about Varroatosis. This variant is characterized by the fact,
that no methods and preparations are used to reduce the number of Varroa mites
in the bee colony. What parameters in the seasonal life of bees we can see here
...
1. As a rule, at the beginning of the
season, the colony releases a swarm, with which the old queen and flying bees
of all ages leave the hive, reducing the overall mites' colony size by about
20%. This is an ideal figure based on the assumption, that about 80% of mites
are always in the brood and only about 20% could be found on the bees of all
ages.
2. During the summer season, the mites
population approximately doubles every month. Taking into account the fact,
that the season lasts from April to September, this is approximately 6 months.
Thus, the mites population increases 64 times by autumn.
3. Creation of an offshoot from a
strong family to expand the apiary or replace dead families. New families in
summer are usually made on the basis of 4-6 brood frames, which, as we think
for simplicity, takes about 40% of the mites from the family.
4. Finally, wintering. Scientists, on the basis of their observations, believe that, on average, 5% of the total number of mites perish per winter month. For simplicity, we assume that wintering lasts 6 months and in general, up to 30% of Varroa mites die during this time.
So, we can
clearly see, that without treatment against varroatosis, the death of a family
in this case can occur in the second or third year of its life, depending on
the circumstances. Earlier, when keeping bees of Russian breed, the mite
breeding season was not so long. Now, with the use of the bees of
The second variant - is the classic use of acaricidal chemicals
with the treatment of bees with three different drugs during the season. We are
considering an option with three-fold processing of bees - at the beginning of
the season, before honey harvest and in late autumn. Consider the parameters
specific for this method ...
1. In this method, we take into account that two chemical treatments are
used at the beginning of the season. BUT, the fact is, that in spring, bee
colonies already have brood and 80% of the mites are located there. Thus, two
successive treatments reduce the mites population by 20% and 20% in
successionly. This means, that they are 100% effective, but realy their
effectivness is close to 96%. For the sake of simplicity, we will assume, that
this in total, is equal to a 40% reduction the mites population.
2. During the summer season, the mites population approximately doubles
every month. Taking into account the fact, that the season lasts from April to
September, this is approximately 6 months. Thus, the mites population increases
64 times by autumn.
3. The repeated autumn chemical treatment is carried out at the end of
September or in October, when there is no brood in the bee colonies. Therefore,
all mites could be found only on adult bees and the efficiency of chemical
treatment in this case reaches 96%. All data in clauses 1 and 3 are fully
consistent with the heat treatment of bees in special chambers.
4. Finally, wintering. For simplicity, we assume that wintering lasts 6 months and in general, up to 30% of the mites die during this time.
So we can see, that using this method of working with bee families
infested with Varroa mites, we are essentially maintaining the status quo. Bees
do not die, but the mites does not die either! A slight increase in quantity of
the mites could be compensated by the periodic creation of offshoots or by the
departure of swarms. It is enough for this to happen once every two or three
years. And companies producing chemical preparations will be forever grateful
to you! You will feed them all your life! They are not interested in the
quality of honey and the health of people ... In addition, if we look at the
number of Varroa mites in a family during the summer period, we will see, that
there are thousands of individuals! And we will understand that such
"treated against the mites" families and apiaries are a constant
source of infection for all the families and apiaries around, which is also
profitable for manufacturers of chemicals and bee-packages ...
The third variant - is developed by us
on the basis of the German method of keeping bees. This is the most progressive
and environmentally friendly for today variant. It is characterized by double
removal of sealed brood into separate
colonies with young queens or with queen cells, followed by their treatment
with formic acid after the entire brood has emerged. Let's consider parameters
specific to this method ...
1. Using this method, the beginning of the season is characterized by
the removal of sealed brood, which currently contains 80% of the entire
population of the mites existing in the bee colony.
2. During summer season, the mites population approximately doubles
every month. Taking into account the fact that the season lasts from April to
September, this is approximately 6 months. Thus, the mites population increases
64 times by autumn.
3. The end of summer season, as well as its beginning, is characterized
by the removal of sealed brood, which currently contains 80% of the entire
population of Varroa mites existing in the bee colony
4. Finally, wintering. For simplicity, we assume that wintering lasts 6 months and in general, up to 30% of mites die during this time.
In this variant, we see that using this method of keeping bees, the growth of the mites population will go so slowly that formation of broodless offshoots with further treatment of the bees in them with formic acid, will help to maintain a balance between the health of bees and the presence of the mites. The result is equivalent to the previous variant, BUT with a few essential caveats ... At first, you do not poison bees, honey and people with chemicals. Formic acid is a natural product. Secondly, the size of the mites population during the summer season is significantly lower than when they are treated with acaricidal preparations. This is due to the significantly more efficient spring treatment, where 40% effectiveness of treatment is replaced with 80% effectiveness. This means at the same time reducing the possibility of contamination of nearby apiaries and other families. But what is most important in this variant, you no longer feed pharmaceutical companies that produce dozens of types of acaricidal drugs that are dangerous to the health of bees and humans.
The fourth variant - is a further development of the third one.
Its main feature is the use for keeping bees of the new hive, made in the
frames of Apivox Varroa Eliminator project. According to preliminary data, this
hive should at least THREE times reduce the rate of development of the mites
population in bee colonies. Of course, there are certain requirements for
working with this hive, but they are quite feasible ... The parameters of this
method are as follows ...
1. With this method, the beginning of the season is characterized by the
removal of sealed brood, which currently contains 80% of the entire population
of the mites existing in the bee colony.
2. During the summer season, the mites population approximately doubles
every month. Taking into account the fact that the season lasts from April to
September, this is approximately 6 months. Thus, the mites population increases
64 times by autumn. But, using a new hive reduces the rate of development of
the mites population by about three times. Thus, the expected increase in the
mites population by the end of the season will be approximately 21.3 times.
3. The end of the summer season, as well as its beginning, is
characterized by the removal of sealed brood, which at the moment contains 80%
of the entire population of the mites existing in the bee colony.
4. Finally, wintering. For simplicity, we assume that wintering lasts 6 months and in general, up to 30% of the mites die during this time.
In this case, we clearly see that a decrease in the growth rate of the mites population during the summer season leads to a radical suppression of the development of the mites population in the bee colony and to the possibility of its complete elimination in a few years. This is a major achievement even with such a low coefficient of decrease in the growth of the mites population as 3 times. It can be seen from the table that such a decrease is possible when performing standard brood removal procedures, and with the formation of offshoots, the elimination of the mites population can be achieved even earlier. The only question is that the natural conditions are not ideal, and this process may take a little more time. In general, these are the results that were laid down in the very idea of creating the Apivox Varroa Eliminator project ...
The fifth variant - is in fact a confirmation of all of the above
on the example of the death of our experimental family in the E-1 hive. This
intermediate option is characterized by the fact, that it combines the use of
the first and second modifications of the new hive and the absence of any
anti-varroatous treatments. In addition, as we have already said, the weather
conditions of 2019 were not at all ideal and the bee famoly in this hive was
able to show a coefficient of decrease in the growth of the tick population in
relation to the best control family by only 2 times. And there are only two
items in the parameters of this method ...
1. During summer season, the mites population approximately doubles
every month. Taking into account the fact that the season lasts from April to
September, this is approximately 6 months. Thus, the mites population increases
64 times by autumn. But, the use of a new hive in design variants 1 and 2
reduces the rate of development of the mites population by about TWO times.
Thus, the expected increase of the mites population by the end of the season
will be approximately 32 times.
2. And finally wintering. In this case, we believe that wintering lasts only 2 months due to the warm winter, and in general, no more than 10% of the mites died during this time.
Calculations unambiguously show, that after reaching the autumn period with the number of the mites for about three thousand, and with starting of brood rearing already in February, the bees of Carnica breed, living in the experimental hive, allowed the mites to develop secretly for 4 months preceding swarming, which led to the fact, that their population had grown 16 times by May, which ultimately led to its death in early June. This is exactly what happened with our experimental family in June. Thus, this confirms the correctness of our calculations both in this paragraph and in the previous ones ... of course, with certain assumptions.
Thus, we can say, that it is our method that is the most acceptable for
beekeepers, and the least costly both in terms of money and labor costs. In
addition, it is our method that not only suppresses the development of
varroatosis in specific families, but also significantly reduces the
possibility of infecting neighboring families and apiaries due to a sharp
decrease in the number of mites both at the beginning of the beekeeping season
and throughout the summer.
Thus, all that remains for us for today - is to confirm by mass testing
the possibility of the new third model of our new Apivox Varroa Eliminator
project beehive to achieve a mite suppression coefficient of at least three
times under normal weather conditions.
Copyright Sergey Glebskij 2021
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