The time of year for honey harvest as well as beehive winter preparations has arrived. Varroa mite counts and treatments are at the top of the list. The weather is still nice, but I really should have done this at least two weeks ago. Ah well, better late than never. I hope...
Before harvesting and digging through the hives I debated over which winter treatments I wanted, or needed to do. I am leaning toward the idea that a hive should be strong enough to survive without medications, but I really feel that anything I can do to help the hive survive, I should do. So I chose a middle path. I elected to not treat for Nosema since I really saw no signs of it, but I did treat for Varroa. I have been reading about how some beekeepers are having success with using only 25g rather than 50g of Apiguard, so thought I would follow suit. I know that last year I used the full 50g and it seemed a little overpowering and lingered for quite a long time, so the half strength idea just makes sense to me. We'll see how it goes.
So I pulled what honey I reasonably could from the hives, and installed 25g of Apiguard in each hive. The bees took the process quite well. I was pleased that they all seemed to be quite calm, especially compared to their disposition last spring. The Apiguard did set off a lot of immediate fanning, but by evening everyone was back inside safe and sound. I think that the hives might a little light, so I will be feeding them when I install the 2nd round of Apiguard. I am waiting to feed since I would like to avoid the potential for robbing for as long as possible. I hope the weather holds out long enough for them to get enough stored. Let's hope that I'm not making a mistake by waiting.
I didn't get as much honey as I had hoped for, but I did get enough to make the effort worthwhile. I know that my late start in spring had much to do with a smaller harvest, but it was a lesson well learned. The incredibly dry season we had didn't help much either.
Off to the extractor we go! Will be installing round 2 of Apiguard on October 1.
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