Sunday, September 20, 2009

Formic Acid Steam For My Varroa Mites

My first beehive has a serious infestation of Varroa mites, when I pull the screened bottom board tray I see hundreds of them. The mites are transmitting the deformed wing virus as I see the bees bouncing bees with deformed wings out of the hive.

From a scale perspective, if Varroa mites attacked humans it would be like having something the size of a dinner plate attached to your back.

Yesterday I applied formic acid pads for the first time to see if I can get the Varroa count down before the winter. It's relatively easy, just need to be careful since you are handling acid which is breathable and can damage your skin. I'll be back in 21 days to see how well it worked.

What's interesting is that formic acid is naturally occurring in honey, just not at the sauna levels.

beehive with formic acid pad spacers in placeMite Away II formic acid pad placed in a beehive