Summertime Varroa Mite Treatment, July 29

Man, is it hot!  Mark and I arrived at the bee yard near Caldwell, Texas at about 8:30am yesterday.  The sun was out in full force and it was already 84 degrees outside.  Lucky for us, the humidity was lower than it has been lately and there was a little breeze.  We scheduled this bee yard visit to treat each hive for varroa mites.  We do this using Apivar strips two times each year as a preventative measure in caring for our honey bees.
(Click on photos to enlarge).

Varroa mites feed on adult, pupae and larvae honey bees and carry viruses that harm the bees.  Additionally, the mites are typically the first of a few pests that can take down an entire hive, destroying the colony.  Once varroa mites take a foothold, then you can bet that the next two pests to move in are the small hive beetle and the wax moth.  Using Apivar strips keeps the varroa at bay, and will subsequently protect the hive from other invaders.

We saw our queen in hive 01 along with three frames of bees.  This is a small colony of bees, but they are doing just fine.

Hive 01 queen at center of the photo.

Apivar treatment in place.  We place two strips in each deep hive box.
Bees walk around the strips and spread the treatment among the varroa mites
that have made a home throughout the hive box.

In hive 02, we also saw our queen.  She had hardly any brood, but she had recently laid many eggs.  We treated this hive with Apivar.  We noticed the hive was without much honey, so we took a frame full of honey from hive 03 and placed it into hive 02, as hive 03 had plenty to spare.  This is one good thing about having several hives; we can rely on some hives to help other hives in many ways.

Hive 02 bees.  This hive had about four or five frames of bees.

Hive 02 queen near center. Notice that she is longer and
a little larger than the rest of the bees.

Look very closely to see tiny eggs in the cells near the center of the photo.
They look like very tiny grains of rice.

We treated hive 03 with Apivar and noticed our queen.  This hive has two deep hive boxes with a lot of honey, some brood and lots of bees.

Frame from hive 03 with larvae near the center of the photo.

Frame from hive 03. Notice the capped honey along the top of the frame. 

The dark brown cells are capped brood.  Bees will hatch from these cells very soon.

More capped brood in hive 03.

Hive 03 queen on the left side of the frame. 
Notice she is apricot in color.

Our hive 04 also has two deep hive boxes full of bees.  We did not see our queen this visit, but we know she is there and busy.  There is a lot of brood, larvae and honey.  We treated this hive for varroa mites using Apivar strips.

Hive 04 larvae is curled up in "C" shapes and will be
capped by the bees very soon.

Hive 04 capped brood.

Hive 05 is doing great.  This colony also has two deep hive boxes.  We did not see our queen here, but just like in hive 04, she has been busy.  There is plenty of brood, larvae and honey.  Mark and I treated the hive with Apivar strips.

Hive 05 bees.

Hive 05 capped brood on the left, larvae near center, honey on the right.

Lots of capped brood in hive 05.

Hive 06 is nearly identical to hive 05.  We treated this hive with Apivar.

Hive 06 bees with frame of brood.

Hive 06 frame with new comb that has been recently
drawn out by the bees.

Hive 07 has just one deep hive box of bees and only about four or five frames of bees.  But, we did see our queen and the hive has a good supply of honey and brood.  Mark and I treated this hive using Apivar.

Hive 07 queen just a little to the right of center.

Hive 08 is also just one deep hive box of bees.  It is in similar shape to hive 07.  We treated this hive with Apivar, as well.

Hive 08 queen near the center of photo.

Mark and I are very pleased with the health and productivity of each of our hives.  We plan to visit our hives again in the next three weeks or so, to be sure they have everything they need.  In six weeks, we will remove all of the Apivar strips and the treatment for varroa mites will end.  In January, we will treat each hive once again, right before the spring nectar flow.