# Artificial swarm to control mites



## RichardsonTX (Jul 3, 2011)

I am a new beekeeper and am very concerned about how to control varroa mites without the use of chemicals. 

Would this strategy work to help control varroa mites?.......

1) At the end of the honey flow shake off about half of the bees from the when harvesting the honey. 
2) Shake powdered sugar over them. 
3) Put them on new foundation with a mated queen and feed them sugar syrup and pollen patties
4) They put up winter stores by gathering nectar and pollen during the fall time honey flow. 
5) Overwinter the new hive
6) Start the next spring with the overwintered hive and go through the same process at the end of the spring honey flow. 

I've watched a youtube video where this practice (or something like it) is used in Germany.


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## Solomon Parker (Dec 21, 2002)

RichardsonTX said:


> I am a new beekeeper and am very concerned about how to control varroa mites without the use of chemicals.


Worrying doesn't help anything. The Treatment-Free Beekeeping Forum is about letting the bees control disease. Thus no worry is necessary.



RichardsonTX said:


> Would this strategy work to help control varroa mites?.......


It looks workable. It's not the way I do it, far too much artificial going on. There are simply too many variables. In truth, there's only one way to find out. Sorry if I don't seem like much help. I try to be as realistic as possible.


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## stangardener (Mar 8, 2005)

if your interested in powder sugar dusting for mites i suggest reading the write up on the country rubes website and also on randy olivers scientific beekeeper site.
a queen right split is similar to a swarm and breaks the the varroa's breeding cycle. 
for your first year i would suggest the powder sugar treatments (it is a treatment).
as you gain familiarity with the bees i suggest breaking the brood cycle and dropping the powder sugar treatment.
i stopped using powdered sugar three years ago and just do queen right splits just before the flow. 
i would also suggest looking into mite resistant bees and bees that winter with a very small cluster.


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

stangardener said:


> I would also suggest looking into mite resistant bees and bees that winter with a very small cluster.


Why the small cluster in central TX? We often have a fast, early flow...and short winters, so I thought a larger winter cluster would be beneficial. I figured the larger the cluster, the faster they can build up for the flow, and the more bees there are to chase SHB and clean out varroa & EFB?
I'm not trying argue your logic, just trying to understand something that didn't make sense to me at first.


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## stangardener (Mar 8, 2005)

maybe i market queens that that are mite resistant and winter with a very small cluster.
how bout addressing the original posters question as a local view point might be helpful?


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

Unfortunately for the OP's purposes (though fortunately for mine), I haven't had to deal with any concentration of V. Mites in my bees yet... they're still fairly young (managed) colonies though, as they came from recent cut-outs, and most likely from feral stock (I haven't found any beekeepers within 30 minutes of my bee yard), so that may have a LOT to do with it.

I'd prob. have more experience with V. mites, but I didn't have much luck with bees last year, or even in the early spring this year (fire ants killed 'em all off...started a month-long battle with the ants, now I have hives again).


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## Box (Jul 30, 2010)

I am located at 57 north , so I have to deal with vinter ,just to get the climate pin pointet .I think most of the worlds beeks have seen the german skep movies ,i think you refer to. and if they havent they should.
Any treatment of varroa is enhanced many times if there is no brood , try take a look on M. Bush´site ,http://www.bushfarms.com/beesvarroatreatments.htm
Am sure it will work ,going to do something similar ,but with the intire hive , in my case to get them regressed and get more splits to go into vinter.
a great number of the mites can be capped at one time, if you remove all brood you will have made a devastating impact on the mites even without the powdered sugar
The flow up here stops around 20. july and only the hives that go to the heather in aug. will get harvested once more. the rest is made ready for vinter , as i see it there is no need for that ekstra brood at that time ,and you get your old wax out (help against EFB) , you kill varroa , extra hives , and maybe less robbing , and in my case there is enough time for the bees to make those vinterbees ,and most important you dont use chemestry .
win win 
with that said i see no need for doing it every year.

So sorry for the spelling ,but every word is underlined with red ,hope you all get the general idea


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## Box (Jul 30, 2010)

Mel Disselkoen speak in this video on queen rearing and mite kontrol ,here the above method would go nice , where you take away the first capped brood of
the new queen you will catch and destroy a lot of mites with minimum loss of brood , a natural trap for varroa ,
The link for the Mel Disselkoen youtube video 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIYz65Vquxg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLE70E0169AC1FC311


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## AntonioZangara (Apr 24, 2012)

i will better cage the queen in just a frame for 21 days and than sugar dusting... in this way wou will have just adult bees wen you sugardust the colony + the bees will clean all the empty cells from spores and fungus and she will lay again like in spring.
The jail comb go to the cicken.

sorry for my bad english


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