# Bought the Mighty mite thermal... sw Florida



## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

how long does it run?


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## George7380 (Jan 26, 2017)

About 2 and half hours. It shuts off automatically.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

it would be interesting to compare the sticky board counts on days you use it to days you don't use it.


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## George7380 (Jan 26, 2017)

Did I post this in general? I will try the sticky board again in a couple of weeks.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

you posted in 'treatment free'. i moved it to 'diseases and pests' because i thought it was a more appropriate subforum and that you would get more feedback here.


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## Jadeguppy (Jul 19, 2017)

Robbin in the Panhandle used one last year and it looks like all his hives made it. The nucs he didn't use it on didn't do so well. What impact did you see on shb? Did they die or just fly away and then return?


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

I think you will be very surprised and satisfied with the Mighty Mite Killer, especially once you get your hives on a regular treatment calendar. 

This is the results of the latest case study using the Mighty Mite Killer. For those who may not be aware, the Mighty Mite Killer come in 5, 8, and 10 frame versions.


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## Kramertep1635 (Apr 6, 2017)

I just bought one. Does it only take one treatment?


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

Ideally, you should set up a treatment schedule of treatment about every 120 days but this may vary due to weather and location. This is how I am treating mine. You should also be checking for mite counts to keep up with varroa mite levels in each hive. There are a number of methods to do this ranging from sticky boards to alcohol washes. If you have more questions here is a great place where other Mighty Mite Killer users go to share information, experiences, and ask questions. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/275791919813444/learning_content/

Pretty much any IPM program is going to require repeated treatments.


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## herbhome (Oct 18, 2015)

I'm fascinated with the concept. How does this affect brood?


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

Just checked my 14 hives. Not a single SHB was seen in any hive. They've been an absolute scourge for 6 years. Oil trays made a big difference, but last year I used the mighty mite killer in the fall.
Plenty of dead mites but not a lot of dead SHB so I was unsure. But I've NEVER opened 14 hives and not found SHB. Especially the 3 weak ones with half the frames in the top box with no bees.
NO SHB..... That CAN'T be a coincidence... They are a pain in the butt, but I'm sold on them now. 

herbhome, they say it kills mites in the brood, so they don't hatch with the bee. I can tell you it doesn't hurt the brood. The only drawback I've seen is the heat makes the bees want to beard and in one case I saw a marked queen in the beard. But I didn't loose any queens and my hives where very strong and wintered well. The three weak hives where in the process of starving when the flowers started blooming. Killing SHB is a game changer...


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

herbhome said:


> I'm fascinated with the concept. How does this affect brood?


My experience has been that the treatment actually stimulates the production of healthy brood. During treatments you may see a few larva the nurse bees uncap and remove that are too far gone with PMS or have died or close to dying from varroa mite infestation. This is normal. Typically, I see a very noticeable increase the amount and quality/health of the brood approximate 2 to 3 weeks after treatment when there is any appreciable nectar flow in progress or I am feeding. During Fall treatments depending upon your latitude and climate you may not see much if any brood increase primarily due to the cooler change in climate and tappering off the foraging resources. The late Summer and Fall treatments in my opinion are the most important as this is when the hives are producing their Winter bees. Healthy and varroa mite free (as much as is possible) Winter bees goes a LONG ways towards each hive Wintering well provided they get adequate carbohydrate and protein resources.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Does anyone have any mite count data showing the effectiveness of this?

I'm guessing that since it kills mites in the brood, the mite count on day one would not be the only important thing, but in theory, dead mites should be coming out with hatching brood for the next week or two after treatment?

Ideally, there should be a steady mite count pre treatment, then a sharp rise in mite count on the day, and days, after treatment, then a drop to zero or near zero mites a couple weeks after treatment. Anyone have such data?


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

Oldtimer said:


> Does anyone have any mite count data showing the effectiveness of this?
> 
> I'm guessing that since it kills mites in the brood, the mite count on day one would not be the only important thing, but in theory, dead mites should be coming out with hatching brood for the next week or two after treatment?
> 
> Ideally, there should be a steady mite count pre treatment, then a sharp rise in mite count on the day, and days, after treatment, then a drop to zero or near zero mites a couple weeks after treatment. Anyone have such data?


Did you review the treatment case study that I posted above? Does that cover the information you are looking for?


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## Barhopper (Mar 5, 2015)

Wrong post


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## Kingdaddybee (Oct 11, 2017)

with testing we like to see a triple alcohol wash before treatment & then 10 days later. The bees smell the decomposing mites under the capped brood and remove them 3-5 days after treatment. live larvae removed with dead mites attached. join the Facebook Group Mighty Mite Thermal Treatment Users https://www.facebook.com/groups/275791919813444/ review the discussion and also click on files to review the Texas & European studies.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Live Oak said:


> Did you review the treatment case study that I posted above? Does that cover the information you are looking for?


No i didn't Live Oak i'm not signing up to another secret FB group. Which is why i asked the question here. 

Be nice to see it here but if it has to be kept secret, no worries.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Oh, checked your link KingDaddyBee, that FB group was open i was able to find a link showing a study comparing a thermal treatment against a fumigation and the thermal treatment dropped more mites. The table i looked at though was missing later data showing if there were still any mites a couple of weeks and more later, which is really the acid test of wether it worked.


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

Oldtimer said:


> Does anyone have any mite count data showing the effectiveness of this?
> 
> I'm guessing that since it kills mites in the brood, the mite count on day one would not be the only important thing, but in theory, dead mites should be coming out with hatching brood for the next week or two after treatment?
> 
> Ideally, there should be a steady mite count pre treatment, then a sharp rise in mite count on the day, and days, after treatment, then a drop to zero or near zero mites a couple weeks after treatment. Anyone have such data?


I didn't write numbers down and I pulled my Sticky board on the third day. Mite drop count was heaviest the second day. I found larva on the board the third day, I think bees were pulling larva out that had dead mites in them. But I don't know for sure. I know overall, the brood in all ages did fine. I only put a board on one, just enough to let me know if there was a large mite kill.
There were hundreds all three days. I stopped doing drop counts years ago because they're only telling me what I already know. I did it this time only because it was a new type of treatment. 
it works, it doesn't kill the hive, brood or queen. Only draw back is the amount of time, but my hives are on my property, I simply do something else with a timer on my phone. It will autostop but you need to move to the next hive. I'm going to buy a second one this year to double my through put.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

OK, thanks.


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

Kramertep1635 said:


> I just bought one. Does it only take one treatment?


I plan to do mine twice a year. Spring build up and Fall as the bee numbers go down and the mite load goes way up. Same schedule I used for OAV.


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## Kingdaddybee (Oct 11, 2017)

Oldtimer said:


> No i didn't Live Oak i'm not signing up to another secret FB group. Which is why i asked the question here.
> 
> Be nice to see it here but if it has to be kept secret, no worries.


ok the first study was completed in 1997 by Sare USDA funded in Vermont. https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/lne96-066/

here's the links to the European Study. https://www.beehivethermalindustries.com/resources/studies/mite-elimination-thermotherapy-2015/

here's the link to the 2018 Texas Test Study. https://www.beehivethermalindustrie...-Mighty-Mite-Thermal-Treatment-Case-Study.pdf


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

Oldtimer said:


> Oh, checked your link KingDaddyBee, that FB group was open i was able to find a link showing a study comparing a thermal treatment against a fumigation and the thermal treatment dropped more mites. The table i looked at though was missing later data showing if there were still any mites a couple of weeks and more later, which is really the acid test of wether it worked.


Define "Any Mites" left... There is no such thing as ZERO mites. Even with a treatment that killed every mite in a hive, you don't treat ALL the bees. Some are not there. So I don't believe a sticky board will ever have zero mites. I never had one, with chemicals, or OAV. The acid test is does it kill Thousands of mites in an infested hive. My first OAV treatment I counted over a thousand every day for three days and never got close to counting all of them. I'd guess the first time I did it there where 10,000 dead mites the first 4 days. But the count would not have been zero 2 or 3 weeks later. The re-infestation begins when the field bees return. I think you've set the bar too high.


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## Kingdaddybee (Oct 11, 2017)

The most critical month of the year is August. the mite population peaks in August and in Sept. our queen is laying eggs for the Fat overwinter bees. you need all the nursery bees possible to tend to these over winter bees for a strong colony. Thermal Treatment works when many other chemicals will not due to the high ambient temperatures.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Live Oak, just saw your original link which i somehow missed on first read of the thread. Alcohol wash showed pre treatment 4.66% mite infestation reduced to 0.71% infestation 10 days post treatment. Which equates to an 84.8% reduction in mite numbers. That's the useful data i was looking for.


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## Kingdaddybee (Oct 11, 2017)

the studies show that 90 plus percent of the mites are located in the hive body, yes you will have mites that live off the fat body tissue of the bee that don't get treated. the problem is mites under the capped brood which a thermal treatment terminates. also any roaming mites in the hive body are terminated. so terminating 90 percent plus is better than any chemical treatment. the results in 2 weeks is brood frames full of brood and eggs and you get an explosion in the number of bees. i have pictures of beekeepers with 5-6 honey supers full of honey during the pollen flow.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Kingdaddybee said:


> so terminating 90 percent plus is better than any chemical treatment.


Hey what you are doing is great, but let's stick to the truth, the better chemical treatments get 99% + of the mites.


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

Oldtimer said:


> Does anyone have any mite count data showing the effectiveness of this?


here is a post from a local guy that tried it last year his first year with bees, not exactly what you are looking for mite counts. names removed to protect the innocent.



> Yes, I wash before and about a week after. I have some photos I need to find and post. I had about 5 mites before and none after. I counted about 15 mites on the inspection board around 2-3 days after treatment. 3-4days after saw a lot dead bees with mites that had been removed under the caps lying in front of the hive. I also noticed that the bee population of hive really took off after about one month. Since this was my first hive, not sure if this is typical after treatment. I'll look for some of the pictures I took and provide to the post. Thanks


 he never did provide the pictures.


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

Oldtimer said:


> Hey what you are doing is great, but let's stick to the truth, the better chemical treatments get 99% + of the mites.


Chemical treatments work, but you've got chemicals in your hive. Mites build resistance to chemicals. I don't think it's been proven that they build resistance to thermal treatment. I think it's a good plan for the hobbyist. Don't think it makes any sense for guys with 100+ hives. I've got 14 hives, With 2 MMK I can treat them all over a weekend. You can treat more if you have more units. 
But My limit is 2.... They ain't cheap.

Newzealand! Now that is super cool!


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Yes, if i only had a few hives i would probably try this mighty mite thermal blaster myself. We have the worst mites and worst viruses where i am so need to get a good kill twice yearly. At 85% or so kill i'd probably do 2 treatments a week or two apart. 

Sounds a great idea for beekeepers who can spend the time and want to be chemical free.


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## Kingdaddybee (Oct 11, 2017)

Oldtimer said:


> Oh, checked your link KingDaddyBee, that FB group was open i was able to find a link showing a study comparing a thermal treatment against a fumigation and the thermal treatment dropped more mites. The table i looked at though was missing later data showing if there were still any mites a couple of weeks and more later, which is really the acid test of wether it worked.


the findings by bee keepers is that the bees clean out the dead mites for 10 days to 2 weeks. the Texas study showed a great reduction in the mite count post 10 days after treatment. Finally this year after i've ask for 3 years We have a long term study scheduled starting in June. The most rewarding part about thermal is indeed it's non-chemical, terminates the mites under the capped brood. the bees thrive, almost zero hive loss over-wintering, triple honey production, etc. etc. the Commercial Nuc suppliers have noticed and are now purchasing our 5 frame nuc product and selling their nucs mite free after they tested last year. the good news just keeps getting better. There are nuc suppliers that operate 100 to 200 hives that use 6-10 thermal treatment units. yes it takes longer but well worth the results. also while the treatment process is ongoing they have plenty of other work to do in these larger Apiary's.


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## Kingdaddybee (Oct 11, 2017)

the Commercial Nuc suppliers have noticed and are now purchasing our 5 frame nuc product and selling their nucs mite free after they tested last year. the good news just keeps getting better. There are nuc suppliers that operate 100 to 200 hives that use 6-10 each 10 frame thermal treatment units. yes it takes longer but well worth the results. also while the treatment process is ongoing they have plenty of other work to do in these larger Apiary's. this product is too labor intensive for the commercial pollinators but we are working on a solution.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

KDB i don't think you need a long term study. Just a before and after mite count is good enough, but it needs to be on a large number of hives. Reason for that is the "study" that i got my figures from, was done on just one hive. The final figure of post treatment levels of 0.71% was based on one bee sample, with 2 mites in it. Obviously by pure chance, there could have easily been one less, or one more, mite in the sample which would have massively skewed results.


For larger beekeepers to give serious consideration to the product this is not good enough, and nor is saying it killed heaps of mites, or saying there are huge hives. Every treatment type kills heaps of mites, and every decent beekeeper has huge hives. What would carry weight is solid pre and post mite count numbers, done on a big enough sample to be statistically valid. This could be accomplished over a 2 or 3 week period, with just a few hours work.


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## Dflynn (Aug 11, 2017)

Thermally treating varroa is not an instantaneous Mite kill. All bees are damaged to varying degrees and die off slowly, on moderately loaded hives typically within 14 days. On heavily loaded large colonies it can last up to 21 days then Mite fall ceases. The termination under capped brood systematically is observed by bees removing the brood with dead mites between days 3-7 following treatment. 

Thermal is a rock solid varroa management system that cannot be second to anything. I’ve yet to loose a hive to varroa over the last few years. Maximize production and survival - don’t let varroa get a foothold. Thermally treat!


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## 1954Lincoln (Jun 20, 2019)

New beekeeper thought process here...I apologize

So can it be said that with the stronger hives being created by the reduction of mite infestation that the hive will be able to keep the wax moths in check?

Im concerned that living in the woods is conducive for moth probems along with the mites.


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

in my experience wax moth as well as small hive beetle infestations are extremely rare regardless of colony size so long as the colony is otherwise healthy and queenright.

the greater issue with these pests is how much hive volume has to be patrolled by the colony in proportion to how much of the hive the colony is actually clustered on.

i find that i can get away with a lot of unused space most of the time, and unless a colony goes queenless and/or not losing a battle with varroa and/or having other health issues they are rarely bothered moth or beetle infestations.

but as a rule of thumb, and depending on what part of the season it is, it's probably wise to make sure the colony has a little extra space, but not too much.


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