Monday, October 18, 2021

Second varroa mite treatment - 10/18/21

 After my first Oxalic acid treatment for varroa mites 10 days ago, and seeing how many mites were killed, I definitely needed another treatment which I completed today. Here's the image from the first treatment.


I used the green drone frame this season and my last mite check showed nothing so I was very surprised to see this amount of mites. Had I done nothing, I'm sure I would have lost the hive.

Today I also removed the super and there were just a few frames of honey which I'll put into the freezer for now. I left just the two deeps in the hive and hope there's enough honey in there to get them through the winter.

I also removed the top hive feeder today.  I closed up the front and left open a hole for ventilation in at least one of the deeps.  I will add some insulation under the cover and a board across the top of the hive for added protection but I don't plan to wrap the hive this year.  I may buy a bale of straw to help insulate a bit but that's my only plan at the moment (subject to change of course).


No comments: