More, On Mites, Unfortunately, and Powdered Sugar Fun
On Sunday I did a 24 hour mite count in 8 hives. This is where you put in a clean sticky board (though mine aren't sticky), then count all the mites on it 24 hours later. There are lots of variables, such as the size of the hive, how many brood are hatching, how old the hive is. Those seem to be the main ones- undoubtedly there are others- maybe the variety of bee- though I don't notice.
So 24 hours later I pulled out the boards and do my count. To count, I have my boards, which are plastic corrugated sign material, laid out with parallel lines drawn in sharpie. I used to do grids, but they wear off, and I just need to be able to scan in one direction. I wear magnifying glasses from Harbor Freight (same thing when looking for eggs), and do a quick count.
Most mites are dead, or look dead. Some you poke at and they move around, but not many. Which makes me wonder what's happening here- but I think its that bees are hatching, and the queen mother mite is dead, and falls to the bottom. That isn't an indication really of anything but that a bee hatched, and there are mites. Its not suggesting, for example, that the board is helping to kill mites, or hindering it. I didn't get that at first, so I repeat it here.
Anyway, 8 hives, most about the same age-here's what I find: this years package (I have 3, but just counted one) had one mite. (Scoundrel!) Some of the 5 high hives had less than 10 mites- but also not a lot of board detritus, which suggest not a lot of hatching (new queens in two of these). About 3 or 4 hives had maybe 50 to 100 mites. That's starting to get up there- I think 24 mites is sort of an indicator that some sort of treatment should happen.
But in hive #5, the tallest, meanest hive I have, there were 377 mites on the board.
Jesus. That's dramatic. In fairness, after my initial shock, this also suggests a lot of hatching brood.. So maybe its not all bad. And, its my most powerful hive. But a lot of mites!
So, today I opened them up and went all the way to the bottom super (after finding brood 5 supers up- what's with that?), and powder sugared them, a good pound of sugar, all the way to the top. In less than 5 minutes I pulled the board.
Here's the board. All ths spots, pretty much, are mites. I think there are probably 400 here, though I didn't count. They are lying in the sugar, surprised, in disbeleif that something so soft and sweet and fluffy, and cheap, can cause them to lose their grip and tumble off a bee.
You can see that they are all on their backs, and coated- these are living mites. On a bee, they can move fast, and when the sugar goes into a hive, it totally coats the bees- they are pure white. Which is also interesting, as you quickly see that there are suddenly white bees flying about, and you see them go into other hives, which one think they did (and you wouldn't know this unless you coated them).
And here is a video of them waving their poor little legs in the air, helpless. I followed this up with a second board over night- another 3 or 4 hundred mites. So in a few days- close to 1000 mites. That seems like a lot. Im not sure what I am going to do yet- if anything.
So 24 hours later I pulled out the boards and do my count. To count, I have my boards, which are plastic corrugated sign material, laid out with parallel lines drawn in sharpie. I used to do grids, but they wear off, and I just need to be able to scan in one direction. I wear magnifying glasses from Harbor Freight (same thing when looking for eggs), and do a quick count.
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| Mean hive, with plexiglass and dry erase pen saying how mean it is and when it was mean |
Most mites are dead, or look dead. Some you poke at and they move around, but not many. Which makes me wonder what's happening here- but I think its that bees are hatching, and the queen mother mite is dead, and falls to the bottom. That isn't an indication really of anything but that a bee hatched, and there are mites. Its not suggesting, for example, that the board is helping to kill mites, or hindering it. I didn't get that at first, so I repeat it here.
Anyway, 8 hives, most about the same age-here's what I find: this years package (I have 3, but just counted one) had one mite. (Scoundrel!) Some of the 5 high hives had less than 10 mites- but also not a lot of board detritus, which suggest not a lot of hatching (new queens in two of these). About 3 or 4 hives had maybe 50 to 100 mites. That's starting to get up there- I think 24 mites is sort of an indicator that some sort of treatment should happen.
But in hive #5, the tallest, meanest hive I have, there were 377 mites on the board.
Jesus. That's dramatic. In fairness, after my initial shock, this also suggests a lot of hatching brood.. So maybe its not all bad. And, its my most powerful hive. But a lot of mites!
So, today I opened them up and went all the way to the bottom super (after finding brood 5 supers up- what's with that?), and powder sugared them, a good pound of sugar, all the way to the top. In less than 5 minutes I pulled the board.
Here's the board. All ths spots, pretty much, are mites. I think there are probably 400 here, though I didn't count. They are lying in the sugar, surprised, in disbeleif that something so soft and sweet and fluffy, and cheap, can cause them to lose their grip and tumble off a bee.
You can see that they are all on their backs, and coated- these are living mites. On a bee, they can move fast, and when the sugar goes into a hive, it totally coats the bees- they are pure white. Which is also interesting, as you quickly see that there are suddenly white bees flying about, and you see them go into other hives, which one think they did (and you wouldn't know this unless you coated them).
And here is a video of them waving their poor little legs in the air, helpless. I followed this up with a second board over night- another 3 or 4 hundred mites. So in a few days- close to 1000 mites. That seems like a lot. Im not sure what I am going to do yet- if anything.
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