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narustin House Bee
Joined: 10 Sep 2011 Posts: 15 Location: UK, London, Mill Hill
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 9:49 am Post subject: Varroa treatment with MAQS |
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Has anyone used MAQS to treat varroa infestation in Top Bar hives? If so how? |
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trekmate Golden Bee

Joined: 30 Nov 2009 Posts: 1137 Location: UK, North Yorkshire, Bentham
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 7:02 am Post subject: |
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The only reports I've heard about the use of MAQS is the high risk of losing the colony after treatment.
While I don't promote treatment for Varroa in general, MAQS appears to be the most risky on the market going by reports on many beekeeping forums. |
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narustin House Bee
Joined: 10 Sep 2011 Posts: 15 Location: UK, London, Mill Hill
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 1:15 pm Post subject: Varroa |
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What do you do to treat varroa? |
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trekmate Golden Bee

Joined: 30 Nov 2009 Posts: 1137 Location: UK, North Yorkshire, Bentham
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 7:03 am Post subject: |
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Generally nothing, but monitor Varroa levels. If the level rises enough to cause concern I dust with icing sugar (powdered sugar).
Make your Varroa board sticky so any Varroa that drop cannot escape; I smear on a coat of vegetable oil, some use paper with an adhesive covering. Give all bees in the hive a light coating of sugar. This encourages the bees to groom each other and the mites are dislodged. The mites also get the sugar granules stuck in their claws if they move and can no longer hold on. You can sprinkle the sugar (sugar shaker) on of use a blower (as used by barbers to apply talcum powder).
After 24 hours I clean the VArroa board.
Try to avoid getting the sugar into open brood.
As Varroa breed in the brood cells and many are "hidden" at any one time it is necessary to repeat the treatment three times at weekly intervals to be really successful. This will remove new generations of Varroa. |
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CeeBee Foraging Bee
Joined: 16 Jun 2013 Posts: 107 Location: UK, Cambridge, Milton
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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Can't help feeling that people only write about stuff if there's been a problem, so any search on the net is biased towards bad outcomes of whatever it is you're thinking about.
This is my 3rd year of using MAQS on top-bar colonies, so far with no problems. The difficulty is how top apply it, when you can't just lay the strips above the gapped 'top-bars' of a traditional hive.
I suspend two strips between bars in the brood-nest area, having spaces them just enough to get the strip in, using 'slings' cut from a fairly rigid garden netting. A couple of short lengths of garden cane, poked though holes in the netting and resting on the tops of the bars either side of the gap, stop the whole thing from just falling into the hive. |
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honeygarden New Bee
Joined: 11 Sep 2016 Posts: 2 Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 8:58 am Post subject: |
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I've also used the stuff a few times now with no problems at all, even on fairly weak colonies. I find it provides more flexibility as I don't treat routinely, prefering to monitor and treat when needed, and the treatment period is so short it can generally be carried out at any time during the main season without interfering too much. Although I personally wouldn't use it in any hive containing honey I was planning to harvest, its lack of a withdrawal period also lends itself to use on top bar hives where separating harvestable honey from the treated brood area is not always straightforward.
I haven't used it on my top bars yet but when I come to I'll probably just place it in a tray on the hive floor under the combs. I think the key is providing enough ventilation and space within the hive for the bees to move around while the treatment is ongoing. |
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catchercradle Golden Bee

Joined: 31 May 2010 Posts: 1551 Location: Cambridge, UK
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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Used once in the days when I used to treat routinely. Didn't have any problems but that was on one of jy natinals so didn't have to think about ways to suspend them etc. |
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Quality Top Bar Hives by Andrew Vidler
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Conserving wild bees
Research suggests that bumble bee boxes have a very low success rate in actually attracting bees into them. We find that if you create an environment where first of all you can attract mice inside, such as a pile of stones, a drystone wall, paving slabs with intentionally made cavities underneath, this will increase the success rate.
Most bumble bee species need a dry space about the size a football, with a narrow entrance tunnel approximately 2cm in diameter and 20 cm long. Most species nest underground along the base of a linear feature such as a hedge or wall. Sites need to be sheltered and out of direct sunlight.
There is a spectacular display of wild bee hotels here
More about bumblebees and solitary bees here
Information about the Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
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