Autumn - Next steps for New Beekeeper

[Kathi]

I'm going into my first Autumn with my first hive in Nova Scotia.  I've removed my honey super (no harvest this year).  Hive inspection of 2 deeps = 8 frames capped brood, 9 frames honey/pollen combo, and 3 open frames.  The last alcohol wash yielded 1 varroa mite.  I added 2:1 sugar syrup feed.
My questions:
1. How often should I do the alcohol wash for mites?
2. Do I add Nosema treatment to the syrup? and when would I do that?
3. Should I start AFB preventative treatment and when?
Can all these treatments be done at the same time or is that too stressful to the bees?

Thanks!  All the information about treatments is hard to get my head around as to how to schedule it

[Wandering Man]

You may find this link useful:

http://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroa/



And then you may want to download this PDF file, the Varroa Management Guide.  The powdered sugar shake lets you check your mites and feel less guilty about killing off 300 useful bees:

http://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/HBHC-Guide_Varroa_Mgmt_6thEd_7April2017_c.pdf

[Perry]

Hey Kathi:

If you recently did a count and there was only 1 mite I would say you will be fine.
Treating for Nosema (fumagilan) and AFB (teramycin/oxytet) are personal choices. As you might recall I don't bother with preventative AFB treatment (Kevin does) and when I feed sugar syrup in the fall to anything that needs it I feed fumagilan in it (Kevin doesn't).
You will probably get a lot of different answers to a couple of those questions, but hey, that's beekeeping!

[Lburou]

Hey Kathi:

If you recently did a count and there was only 1 mite I would say you will be fine.
Treating for Nosema (fumagilan) and AFB (teramycin/oxytet) are personal choices. As you might recall I don't bother with preventative AFB treatment (Kevin does) and when I feed sugar syrup in the fall to anything that needs it I feed fumagilan in it (Kevin doesn't).
You will probably get a lot of different answers to a couple of those questions, but hey, that's beekeeping!

I agree with Perry 100%, in my view prophylactic use of antibiotics is questionable at best. 

[SmokeyBee]

Kathi,

I'm also a beginner but I will offer that there is a Canadian smartphone app called bee health that is the best thing I've seen for the basics of parasites and diseases.

[40 Acre Bees]

We are located Chester Basin, with four hives and to tell you the truth we treat once a year (in the fall) with MAQS and we seem to be doing just fine.  We are trying to be as  treatment free as possible  and other than the MAQS for mites that is the only treatment we do.   Of course we feed sugar syrup as required.   We are trying to keep it as simple as possible so we can sit back and enjoy the bees!!!!

[Jen]

I like what 40 Acres said. I live in upper northern California. We get all seasons here and that can include 2-3 feet of snow. Over the years I have learned to pay most of my attention to keeping the mites at bay. I've only treated once this summer with one shot of Oxalic Acid when the mite count was about 10. Then I will treat in October just to make sure there are no mites in the hives for the winter. And I do feed sugar syrup when needed.

[Riverrat]

Hi Kathi and welcome to beekeeping.  If the new hives was started from packages you usually will see a low mite count the first year as the mites are like the bees and building up.  Its the following year you will see the mite count increase.  If started as a nuc then all bets are off on mite counts it could be high or low the first year.  I would heft the back of the hive to see how heavy it is.  I am unsure about the amount of stores you need in your area to get through winter. Here in kansas we shoot for about 90 lbs.  With 9 frames of honey and pollen I would say your close to the weight and you may not need to feed.  However you can never have to much on stores.  Bees will start pulling the honey down and into the brood area to shut the queen down as the brood you have now hatches

[riverbee]

"I'm going into my first Autumn with my first hive in Nova Scotia.  I've removed my honey super (no harvest this year).  Hive inspection of 2 deeps = 8 frames capped brood, 9 frames honey/pollen combo, and 3 open frames.  The last alcohol wash yielded 1 varroa mite.  I added 2:1 sugar syrup feed.
My questions:
1. How often should I do the alcohol wash for mites?
2. Do I add Nosema treatment to the syrup? and when would I do that?
3. Should I start AFB preventative treatment and when?
Can all these treatments be done at the same time or is that too stressful to the bees?"

kathi, welcome to keeping bees! and getting your bees to the first autumn, and overwintering!
to answer your questions:

#1. if your mite count is low, i wouldn't be concerned about one mite, as perry said, and also, like riverrat said, 1st year packages typically show a low mite count, it's next season the mites ramp up and we need to keep vigilant about the mite counts.

#2.  i am not one to add nosema treatment (fumagillin b) to syrup anymore. if you choose to do so, now is the time to add it to the syrup.

#3. there is no need to add any treatment for AFB.

focus on having enough stores in your hive to overwinter your bees to spring.  sounds like you are doing this! good luck and best wishes to you!