# Mite control in Drone Saturation Colonies



## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

What are folks using to control Varroa in Drone Saturation Colonies?

I'm considering regular OAV treatments or freezing and rotating drone frames.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I'm considering regular OAV treatments or freezing and rotating drone frames.

And how will that make drones?


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

I was wondering if anyone was rotating drone frames and freezing. Such as freezing one drone frame every 6 weeks or so. I'm thinking my best option is monitor mite levels and treat if needed.


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## Moon (May 7, 2011)

Michael Bush said:


> And how will that make drones?


And how does this help or answer the question?

I honestly don't know MTN-bees since I don't use colonies setup for drone saturation but I imagine removing drones and freezing them would be counter productive. What effects does OAV treatments have on brood and will it affect the quality of the drones? If you do remove and freeze will the temporary reduction in mite population be worth the reduction in number of drones? Do you want to be saturating an area with drone colonies that require so much attention?

I don't know the answers to any of these but I know there is a wealth of information out there that you should be able to research and dig up based off of the right questions.


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

OAV seems to be the logical choice. Good luck!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

I have read some to give my inexperienced insight.
Make a few 5 frame mating nucs saturated with the nurse
bees without the cap broods. Then oav to clean up the mites first.
Finally bring in the drone egg frames without the bees attached into
the nuc hive. After the drone larvae are capped take the frame back to the
original hive but without the mites inside the cells this time. FYI: A healthy
drone can sustain 2-3 mites infestation and still emerged fine to take his mating flight.


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

MTN-Bees said:


> What are folks using to control Varroa in Drone Saturation Colonies?
> 
> I'm considering regular OAV treatments or freezing and rotating drone frames.


We treat with OA prior to drone Production and after we are finished with our drone colonies. Mite free drone brood insure more drones are able to mate your queens. Also you don't want that colony to collapse after your done.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Hack & stack if I find a need. First round of drone brood works well if it's available early enough.




























I toss these to my chickens, but disposal can be any way you want. Some are so heavy I feel like I'm throwing them a steak.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Lauri, some mites are also inside the cap worker cells.
What to do with those mites early on in the Spring time?
Over here I try to isolate these mite infested frames to another
more mite hygienic nuc hive. But running a large operation like yours
seem impossible to do it all the time. Too time consuming I would say.
So what to do?


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

beepro said:


> So what to do?


Get better genetics, move to a different area where you re infestation issue from outside sources is low or non existent, run more virgin queens through your nucs,

I don't have 'infestations' as you say, so I am not the best one for mite control advise.


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## Stephenpbird (May 22, 2011)

Treat in July/August then make sure you do a treatment in the brood less period in winter and test if it was an effective treatment ie mite drop or alcohol wash. Then in spring your first round of drones will be mostly be mite free, at least this is what I see, of course you can monitor this by uncapping 20 or so drone cells and counting mites. After that you need to treat.


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