Mite away strips

[Barry n Abbie]

It's calling for rain today and sun the rest of the week.  Mid 20c.  Should I wait until after the rain to put the strips in or does it matter?


Thanks

[Perry]

I'm holding off until tomorrow simply because of the temps. I have 3 yards I have held off doing because it got too hot during the day.

[Barry n Abbie]

Thanks Perry

[40 Acre Bees]

Question for Perry - I was hoping to hold off till next weekend to put the MAQS do you think that would be OK and I also did some reading about some research that was done, by only using one strip (1/2 dosage) have you ever heard any body trying this?  Thanks Richard

[Lburou]

Not Perry, but the single strip application should be covered on the label.  Yes, people do it and NOD, (the  manufacturer), has instructions to put one strip in, and then another when that is no longer working.

Option 2: Half dose (1 strip). Apply a single Mite Away Quick Strip every two to six weeks throughout the beekeeping season, following the same hive configurations, food reserves, temperature, and handling constraints as set out in Option 1.
No studies have been completed on nucleus colonies.

[40 Acre Bees]

We like many other keeps would like to keep our treatments to a minimum.  We try to only treat once a year (in the fall).  I did notice some definite effects from the MAQs after applying them last year and was hoping to do just one strip this year to minimize the effects on the bees.  We were hoping it would be effective enough.  From what I can see our mite load is definitely minimal.  Thanks in advance for all your comments......

[Perry]

If your mite load is low, one strip will probably suffice. Better sooner than later now that temps finally dropped.

[bkreid]

Hi Perry,Where is the closest place to buy these strips in my area? Do I need to head to Halifax?
I've been watching for mites all summer, but haven't seen any on drones or drone larvae, or bottom board yet.
Brian

[40 Acre Bees]

Country Fields in Waverly is where I get them.  He can ship them or you can pick them up.  I ordered them today and he shipped them out collect to me by courier and I will have them tomorrow.

http://www.countryfields.ca/

[kebee]

 Welcome bkreid to the forum , think you will like it here and if you don't mind go to introduction and put your self there so all can welcome you.

Ken

[Perry]

Hi Perry,Where is the closest place to buy these strips in my area? Do I need to head to Halifax?
I've been watching for mites all summer, but haven't seen any on drones or drone larvae, or bottom board yet.
Brian

How many did you need? 1 package had 2 strips in it, enough for a full treatment on 1 hive, or a half treatment on 2 hives?
I may have an extra 1 or 2 packages.

[bkreid]

Thanks Perry, I'll pm you.
Brian

[DebNoble]

The directions for the MAQS say to remove the entrance reducers but I'm wondering how long the reducers are supposed to be off - a day, a week...?
The nights are starting to get cool here and I've also noticed more yellow-jackets nosing around the hives, not to mention a raccoon helping himself to the bowl of water I've set up for the bees since my pond has dried up due to the drought here...

[Perry]

The treatment is finished after 7 days so you can do whatever you want after that.

[Chip Euliss]

I tried MAQS this spring for the first time.  Had the pleasure of having David Vanderdussen here last summer and he gave me some pointers that helped considerably.  First was to offset the boxes a finger width so to enhance ventilation and that adding an empty box (not of drawn frames but of frames without bees, honey and pollen.  My observations were that: 1) adding the third box up top was a good idea because the hives I added the empty box to did better and had little brood burn than the ones that only had 2 boxes, 2)  I had no queen loss but I did burn the brood a bit in the 2 box hives but not the ones with the 3rd empty up top, an 3)  I used 2 strips but I will only use 1 next spring since I burned more brood than I hoped.  I had a respectable mite load before treatment and basically none after treatment.  I thought I'd done something wrong but the state inspector didn't find any mites either.  I highly recommend the product and plan to alternate it with OA vaporization with  a vmvaporizer I purchased earlier this year.  I also should point out that the temperatures were cooler than the minimum temps recommended for the product but I put the strips in above the published minimum temperature.  I knew the next few days would be cooler than recommended but I reasoned that the temperature in the brood nest would be fairly constant since it didn't get excessively cold.  This may have been a factor in me burning more brood than I wanted and also may explain why the hives with the extra "empty" box faired better.  I did share my results with David and he replied that he (NOD) were working on applications that were cooler than the recommended temperatures.

[Perry]

I have had some brood mortality in the past, but never enough to worry about. I have also seen queens that shut down during treatment. When I go in after 7 days to remove the pads (more to check than actually needing to) I have found fresh eggs and capped pupae, but missing degrees of larvae.
This year it got very hot, close to maximum temps when I already had the strips in a bunch of hives so I am a little concerned. I held off doing anymore until the temps finally dropped today.
I have always placed a super on top during treatment, it wasn't in the initial instructions, but was a recommendation in the early days of the product I believe.

[Chip Euliss]

I took mine out too Perry but mostly because it was cold and I wanted to close the "pneumonia hole" more than anything else (i.e., placing the boxes on top and eliminating the finger width spacing".  While I was there, getting rid of the spent strips was a natural thing to do.  Like most men, I didn't read the directions so I must have got the extra super idea from David V when he visited last summer.  Like you, I had good queens laying when I took the strips out but I did burn far more brood than I'd hoped.  Next spring, I will add an extra box to all the hives--who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks