# Varroa control question



## Ruben (Feb 11, 2006)

I am in the process of getting to small cell, but for the hives that are not there yet what will keep Varroa under control besides powdered sugar or screened bottom boards? Anything?


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## Dane Bramage (May 11, 2007)

*essential oils*

Here's one possibility I'd personally like to know more about:


> SPICE THE MITE WITH NUTMEG
> 
> by Jorge Murillo-Yepes, B&D’s Correspondent in Grenada
> 
> ...


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## jim b (Oct 3, 2004)

Me too.

>15g essential oil (we have tried eucalyptus, nutmeg, peppermint and spearmint)

I wonder why not thyme oil,( or is it thymol?)
-j


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## buckbee (Dec 2, 2004)

That's really interesting - and worth experimenting with. I know that nutmeg is quite a powerful narcotic, however, and I'm wondering if the essential oil should be handled with caution?


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## BeePuncher (May 25, 2007)

buckbee said:


> That's really interesting - and worth experimenting with. I know that nutmeg is quite a powerful narcotic, however, and I'm wondering if the essential oil should be handled with caution?


Sounds great to pour hot over apple pie and ice cream!


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If you monitor the mites, you may be surprised to find you may not need anything at all.


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## betrbekepn (Aug 7, 2006)

*Propolis*

*Propolis.*  http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196465


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## betrbekepn (Aug 7, 2006)

*Propolis*

*"Is propolis effective against Varroa", a 2006 research project of Marla Spivak, (U. of MN) has been funded by The National Honey Board [ABJ 4/06, p285]*

*I emailed Marla Spivak,* "I'm very interested with your findings\results and your method of exposing bees\varroa to propolis. Any results yet?"

*Marla Spivak replied,* "Too early to tell. We sprayed propolis solution on combs. Mites had reduced reproductive success but we need to repeat to confirm. I should have more results in the fall."


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Interesting. Dee Lusby has been saying for decades that bees that make more propolis do better against the mites.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>I should have more results in the fall . . .

Is it time for another E-mail?


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## betrbekepn (Aug 7, 2006)

Dave W said:


> Is it time for another E-mail?


Nope, not yet . I emailed her 6-8-07. She replied 6-10-07.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

Just for the record 

>Marla Spivak replied, "It is too early to tell. We are still looking at mite families under the scope. Ask me again in a couple months." - - Nov 19, 2006.

>"Too early to tell. We sprayed propolis solution on combs. Mites had reduced reproductive success but we need to repeat to confirm. I should have more results in the fall." - - Jun 10, 2007.


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## betrbekepn (Aug 7, 2006)

Marla Spivak: 10-14-07 "We are still looking at mite reproduction on the combs sprayed with propolis - hope to have data ready to talk about by the Sacramento meeting. Sorry, I'm short handed and it takes a lot of time to count mite offspring in hundreds of combs and thousand of cells. We sprayed empty combs, not bees!" The propolis solution recipe can be found on Gary Reuter's web site" http://www.tc.umn.edu/~reute001/htm-files/Propolis extract.html


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## Sprocket58 (May 5, 2007)

*Essential oil use.*

I have added thyme to my feeding mix..along with combos of other oils. So far so good I have looked and looked but haven't noticed any mites. I am also using a sbb. The other thing I have noticed is when I add thyme to my mix there is no mold growing in my feeders. I have wondered about propolis myself but I haven't taken any from them other than what I remove from the frames when I extract.


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## Fishdude123 (Jul 28, 2008)

What have you added to your feeders to get the mites? Specifically what is the concentration? What source of oil?
Thanks!


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

Varroa Control - The cool weather set in last week, so on Friday I dropped Formic Acid pads in a few yards that needed mite treatment based on mite counts. I am thinking of yanking them out Wednesday before the temp hikes up again. It's supposed to hit 80 on Wednesday...that's the plan so far.


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## Baloo (Feb 28, 2006)

I think the best solution to varroa is to confine the queen for a period of time. This is John Conner's idea. I have seen it work well in my yard albeit inadvertently. Last fall my hives did not have much in the way of stores for winter (I did not take too much honey, they were weak hive removals). I think this had some hand in causing my bees to have a break in the laying/brood cycle. I am able to check on my bees almost year-round since I live in Texas. I noticed late in the fall last year the queens stopped laying an there was no brood present. I thought these hives were doomed, but it was too late in the season to do anything about it (in the way of queen replacement). So I left them alone. Not only did the hives make it through the winter, but did really well this spring/summer. Since all the hives were feral, they all had varroa. I have only seen about three mites this season. It makes sense that if you take away the food source of a pest, it will starve the pest. Confining the queen does exactly this. I would imagine that confinement in conjunction with other methods would almost completely remove varroa from a hive.


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