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General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #12054  by NigelP
 08 Oct 2021, 17:30
The burner Thornes sell will prevent any fire spreading, its a tin with 2 lids , a hook to hang the sulphur strips and holes to let the SO2 escape downward.
I wouldn't recommend doing it in a shed....tried it once and bee shed was unusable for rest of day...SO2 is nasty stuff to breath in. Do it outside and move fumigated boxes inside afterwards.
 #12056  by Steve 1972
 08 Oct 2021, 18:58
NigelP wrote:
08 Oct 2021, 09:14
For what its worth Steve, I used the same just out of date Amitraz strips. Most of my hives didn't drop many varroa either. But some of them did, 1000's in one case. Which suggests that the strips where working fine, at least in those hives.
Be interested to see what what you OA vaping produces.
I checked the inspection boards today Nigel and my OA vape was much needed..four of the garden hives dropped over 50 varroa and one in the mid 15's..to me that is not acceptible as the strips in these five are not working..
I will vape the other five tomorrow and let you know the results.
 #12058  by Steve 1972
 08 Oct 2021, 19:50
Let me know your results Nigel..I love the lazy Amitraz route but nothing is more certain than a good OA mix vape..I will now be going down that path again..just aswell I bought 1kg of the stuff a few years back.. :D
 #12064  by JoJo36
 10 Oct 2021, 05:26
Its been some lovely autumn weather here and many bees are still out foraging and returning with loads of yellow pollen!
I've not checked inside my hives to fully inspect now for weeks as I've concentrated on feeding sugar syrup which I've finished a week or two ago! They all had queens, brood etc many weeks ago and thought pointless risking accidentally squashing a queen 'just to check' so I'm leaving be??!! Still got the Apivar strips in which will stay for another week or two then I shall stuff some crumpled newspaper in the eke to give extra warmth. Feels like tucking them up for winter hibernation when in reality they are not sleeping! Oh well on to the tortoises next..........
 #12065  by Alfred
 10 Oct 2021, 15:09
Fed them at sunrise ,possibly the last topup as they are all mostly stopping now the weight is in the boxes.
Estimate 5l leftover thymolated juice from a 100 kg mixing marathon so I shall be well pleased with that shrewd judgement( unprecedented luck)
One mouseguard missing-completly vanished
Probably the wasps - I wouldnt put it past them- the evil bstds were harassing me checking up on the feeders.

Ive shamelessly stolen Micks idea now for traps
Food colouring bottle with the base cut off then screwed into the side of an empty ad-bleau container (see oim culptured too) .
Tuna ,vinegar and syrup is the current dish of the day for them.
 #12066  by MickBBKA
 10 Oct 2021, 23:57
I love your attitude Alfred. I just can't get over the wasp plague this year, I must have killed thousands. They were still hammering the colonies today. One apiary I have 6 traps out and they were all half full. Imagine the bees having to fight that off on their own.
 #12070  by Steve 1972
 11 Oct 2021, 11:00
NigelP wrote:
08 Oct 2021, 19:02
Damn.....looks like the sublimox will have to come out of retirement.
But better dead varroa than dead hive.
I vaped the five colonies over the weekend at my Alnwick site and no mites dropped..it's looking like the Apitraz I used in my Hartlepool hives is a bad batch..I'm thinking that anyone who bought the same stuff with a short self life should vape just to be on the safe side.
 #12071  by NigelP
 11 Oct 2021, 13:19
Getting a nice steady mite drop from hives with Apitrax strips, although a couple aren't dropping many.....so vaped all my garden hives this morning and will see what happens.
 #12073  by NigelP
 13 Oct 2021, 12:53
And....apart from one hive that was dropping tons with the strips nothing special dropped. The ones dropping only a few varroa only dropped a few after vaping....so all is well (I think :) )
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