The Transition to a Mite AwayII™
IPM Treatment Program

by David VanderDussen
NOD Apiary Products Ltd.

Varroa resistance to hard chemicals (fluvalinate – Apistan®, coumaphos – CheckMite+™) has become a fact of life for many beekeepers. For a long time hard chemicals were a cheap and easy way to keep varroa under control. With widespread resistance emerging, a new strategy is required. Make the transition, and you can do well.

If there has been a benefit to the high colony losses, it is that pollination fees for many crops have never been so high. Beekeepers who have been able to keep their hives alive and strong have a chance to make some very good returns on their investment. Investing in keeping your bees alive and healthy is a good financial strategy.

Mite AwayII™ Single Application Formic Acid Pad (MAII) is a varroa and tracheal treatment product registered in North America spring 2005¹. Using formic acid as its active ingredient, it is MAIIs’ design and methodology that makes it effective. MAII approaches varroa as a brood disease.

Brood is where the varroa reproduce, feed on the developing pupae, and vector in viruses. Brood presence also determines the number of varroa treatments required². Mite Away has shown to be 93.5 ±5.5% effective³.. In the northern areas, two treatments a year, in the spring and in the fall, give the required control⁴. The mites are knocked down in the spring so the summer bees can gather in the honey crop, then treated again in the early fall so the colony can have a healthy cluster going into winter. In the south, three treatments a year may be required.

Varroa control expectations:

When the mites are exposed to a new hard chemical, such as when Apistan® was first used, varroa control was close to 100%⁵. This has led to some beekeepers having artificially high expectations with a soft chemical control like MAII. Expectations should be around the 90% efficacy range, when MAII is applied properly. Ninety percent sounds good, but 10% of the mites are still present. This means beekeepers may still see some varroa, even immediately after treatment.

Varroa Populations:

 Definitive numbers on varroa population are hard to come by, with various numbers coming out of different studies and models⁶. However, when brood is present in the colonies, varroa can double their number approximately every 20 days⁷. This means 100 mites become 3,000+ in 16 weeks. Using tolerant (i.e. SMR, hygienic, Russian) stock can extend this time frame. Queens laying 1,000 viable eggs per day means there are 12,000 worker pupae developing under the cap, so one in four (3,000) can be hosting a foundress mite at the 16 week mark, half at the 19 week mark.

Varroa Thresholds:

Two types of thresholds are referred to in treatment programs: Economic Injury Level (EIL) and Treatment Thresholds. Treatment levels are lower than the EIL, so that economic loss can be avoided. 3,000 varroa is commonly considered the economic injury threshold, with 2,500 seen as the maximum before treating⁸. But how does one know how many mites are in a colony?

Ether, sugar rolls and alcohol washes: When brood is present: Ether, sugar rolls and alcohol washes give a good indication of the number of phoretic mites, which could be 20 to 30% of the total mites, so one would have to estimate the adult population of the bees to get the total number of mites and then do the math to add the under the cap population. For example, in August, 3 varroa per 100 bees, 60,000 bees estimated in the colony, there would be 1,800 phoretic mites. At 30% of the total, the colony would have an estimated 6,000 varroa.

When broodless: Ether or sugar rolls and alcohol washes gives a direct ratio of the number of phoretic mites, so one would have to estimate the adult population of the bees to get the total number of mites. For example, in December in the North, 3 varroa per 100 bees of a 20,000 bee colony, varroa load would be 600. Caution needs to be used with these numbers because the extrapolations are so extreme. In the first case, 1 mite equaled 2,000 of the total, in the second case one mite equaled 200. So let’s look at natural mite drop over 24 hours as an assessment tool.

24 hour natural mite drop:

Depending on the time of year, the multiplication factor can vary from 30 to 400 ⁹. Not much better than the roll or wash methods, and the assessor must be very aware of seasonal and colony conditions¹⁰.

Treatment Thresholds:

So, if the economic injury level (EIL) is 3,000, what are the working treatment thresholds¹¹? Honey flows and seasonal conditions need to be taken into account. 130 American Bee Journal In the north, the extreme seasons focus treatment windows on each side of the honey flow. Going into the time with supers on the hives, the mite counts should be very low, since no treatment can be applied for an extended period of time. In the south, when brood is present all year, a different IPM structure is required. If the year is broken out into three 17 week treatment cycles, the mites can be controlled with three applications of MAII. However, the heat in the south can make the temperatures too hot to apply MAII for several months¹², so a combination of strategies may be required, such as using varroa tolerant stock, drone brood removal¹³, and minimizing re-infestation opportunities. MAII may give adequate control on its own if treatments are applied as soon as possible in the fall, again in the winter and as late as possible in the spring. Monitoring of mite levels would be very important in this case.

Skipping or missing a treatment is like a loan with very high compound interest – everything gets added to the principal and becomes overwhelming. This can lead to requiring two treatments close together. However, there must be at least 30 days from the end of one treatment to the beginning of the next treatment¹⁴, to allow the hives to de-gas the absorbed formic acid, avoiding overdosing the colony. The dollars of a MAII treatment program¹⁵. Mite control has been a part of most commercial beekeeper’s budget for years. Both tracheal and varroa mites have required treatment. At times tracheal levels stay below the EIL, either by climate or breeding, but sometimes beekeepers have been caught unaware of high tracheal mite levels, leading to colony mortality¹⁶. Menthol crystals are available in bulk to control tracheal mites. Preparing the 50 gram packets cost $0.65 per treatment¹⁷, plus packet and labor. For varroa control, Apistan strips are $178.00 per 100, about the same for CheckMite+™¹⁸. Used by the label, two are required per average hive, costing $3.56 per treatment. Generally two treatments were required per year. Total mite control chemicals budget for the year: $7.77 per hive.

MAII treats both varroa and tracheal mites in a single application. The direct from manufacture price by the pallet (960 treatments) for 2006 is $2.79 per treatment. For two treatments per year this is $5.58, a savings of $2.19 per hive. If three are required, as is the case for bees moved into almond pollination, $8.37 per hive is the cost, 60 cents more per hive. Labor is minimal, as treatments only require a single application that goes on above the brood chamber. These can be worked into existing management routines, when beekeepers are already in the yards.

As stated in the beginning of this article, investing in keeping your bees alive and healthy is a good financial strategy. Those beekeepers switching to a MAII treatment program will not only keep their mite populations in check, but will avoid any chemical buildup in the wax of the hive and will not risk contamination of their honey. The dollars being paid for pollination are yours – if you have the bees!

Footnotes

1. United States of America Environmental Protection Agency Registration No. 75710-01, Canada Pest Control Product Act Registration No. 27836
2. Martin, S.J., Mites of the Honey Bee, ©Dadant & Sons, Inc. 2001, page 143
3. Skinner, A., Tam, J., Ross. S. OBA TTP report for 2002, The Sting, vol. 21 no. 4. Published by the Ontario Beekeepers Association
4. Calderone, N.W., The Bee-Files, Integrated Pest Management Varroa Destructor in the Northeastern United States Using Drone Brood Removal and Formic Acid. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY © Nicholas W. Calderone
5. Ellis, M., Mites of the Honey Bee, ©Dadant & Sons, Inc. 2001, page 185
6. Hood, W.M and Delaplane, K.S., Mites of the Honey Bee, Chapter 16, ©Dadant & Sons, Inc. 2001
7. Martin, S.J., ibid, page 144
8. Hood, W.M and Delaplane, K.S., Mites of the Honey Bee, ©Dadant & Sons, Inc. 2001, page 235
9. ibid, page 236
10. ibid, page 232
11. ibid, page 235
12. Identifying Treatment Windows, www.Mite Away.com
13. Hoopingarner, R., Mites of the Honey Bee, ©Dadant & Sons, Inc. 2001, page 199
14. label, Mite AwayII™ Single Application Pad.
15. All in $US
16. Mussen, E.C., Mites of the Honey Bee, ©Dadant & Sons, Inc. 2001, page 53
17. B & B Honey Farm, 2005 catalog, Minneapolis Outlet, Cannon Bee Honey, 6105 11th
18. ibid

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