Subject: Re: A lesson for us all

From: [email-masked] (Rich Brown)
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 22:14:58 GMT

This is really an amazing coincidence.  I just finished typing a story I
wanted to share with the group, about a similar incident that happened to
me!

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (David Bush) writes:
>I was working as an apprentice one summer a few years back. Went to take a
>swig of water through my veil. One sneaky devil got me on the upper lip.
>My co-workers thought I looked just swell, ha ha ha. So watch out for the
>sneaky ones! If this message serves to save one person's lips it will not
>have been in vain. :(()
>
>David

I was much luckier than David.  I managed not to get stung.  The story follows
in a separate post.

Rich
--

---

From: [email-masked] (Ed Burress)
Date: 15 Apr 1994 08:54:20 -0700

>swig of water through my veil. One sneaky devil got me on the upper lip.

David,  I have found that a sports-type squeeze bottle works well for this
application.  It can be a little messy at first, but with practice works well.
Never had one on the upper lip, Ouch!

On an unrelated note, has anyone heard of mites invading and destroying hives?
My mother who lives in the mid Willamette valley says that her hives, as well
as the neighbors (a large honey producer in the area) lost all of his hives.
Apparently, these mites have been responsible for destruction of quite a few
hives in Oregon and southern Washington.  She just replaced her bees with a
new shipment that is supposed to be more resistant to the mites.  Anybody else
heard of these, or lost any hives as a result?

-Ed

---

From: rspear@sookit (Richard Spear)
Date: 15 Apr 1994 17:31:48 GMT

Ed Burress ([email-masked]) wrote:

[much deleted . . .]
: On an unrelated note, has anyone heard of mites invading and destroying hives?
: My mother who lives in the mid Willamette valley says that her hives, as well
: as the neighbors (a large honey producer in the area) lost all of his hives.
: Apparently, these mites have been responsible for destruction of quite a few
: hives in Oregon and southern Washington.  She just replaced her bees with a
: new shipment that is supposed to be more resistant to the mites.  Anybody else
: heard of these, or lost any hives as a result?
[more deletions . . .]

as i said elsewhere, i lost my only hive to mites . . . the bees abscond,
leaving an incredibly clean hive behind! mites are becoming endemic in the
u.s., i guess. there are medicated varroa strips that you can use, but you
must remove the strips some considerable time before harvesting honey.

regards, richard

[email-masked]
all disclaimers apply

---

From: [email-masked] (M.C. Rendina )
Date: 15 Apr 1994 19:55:20 GMT

[email-masked] (Ed Burress) writes:

>In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (David Bush)

Yep.  Lost all three.  Mites are everywhere.  (I assume we're talking about the
same tracheal mite?)   In the Midwest, the bees live fine thru the summer 
(their life expectancy is shorter than it takes for the mites to kill them)
but in the winter, the hive dies.  A real bummer.  I'd never lost a colony
in the winter before.  Ouch.

Mark

---

From: [email-masked] (Rich Brown)
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 22:14:58 GMT

Rich
--

---

From: [email-masked] (Ed Burress)
Date: 15 Apr 1994 08:54:20 -0700

-Ed

---

From: rspear@sookit (Richard Spear)
Date: 15 Apr 1994 17:31:48 GMT

[much deleted . . .]

regards, richard

---

From: [email-masked] (M.C. Rendina )
Date: 15 Apr 1994 19:55:20 GMT

Mark

---

From: [email-masked] (David Bush)
Date: 14 Apr 1994 16:26:46 -0400

David

---

From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: 14 Apr 1994 19:26:53 GMT

To all people interested in bees, beekeeping and hive products:
Please use this group! Its for you.
Adam
-- 
Adam Finkelstein  VDACS Apiary Inspector 116 Reservoir St Harrisonburg VA 22801
703-433-1006 (V)   703-434-5607 (Fax)   703-564-4394 (Pager)
[email-masked]    [email-masked]        |Bees To Please|

---

From: [email-masked] (David Wright)
Date: 18 Apr 1994 21:43:10 GMT

[email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein) writes:
# To all people interested in bees, beekeeping and hive products:
#Please use this group! Its for you.
#Adam

And you should all thank Adam, who not only campaigned for the group 
from the start, but put up with us busybodies in group-advice giving
him unasked for help on the group name, (the name initially suggested
did not fit well into the Usenet name system).   He even took our
advice, in the end, and I hope it contributed to the sucessful vote.

>From the initial traffic, it looks like you're going to have a good
Usenet group.  

Good luck, and may your clover never wither and your bees never swarm
out of season.

Regards,
	David Wright, speaking as a member of, but not for
	[email-masked], a small advisory list that tale refers
	people to for advice on newsgroup naming and votes.
[email-masked] <or> [email-masked] <or> uunet!stl!dww <or> D.W.Wright.EG10@bnr

---

From: rspear@sookit (Richard Spear)
Date: 20 Apr 1994 21:29:46 GMT

Adam Finkelstein ([email-masked]) wrote:
:  There are two kinds of bee mites: tracheal and varroa. Tracheal are
: internal, Varroa are external. Colonies die from both mites usually when
                                          ^^^ 
adam -
i lost a colony to varroa last fall and found only a clean, empty hive
left . . . no dead bees. i was told that the  colony absconds . . . maybe
they just get tired of being bugged by the mites <g>.

do they die off, too?

regards, richard

---

From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 1994 18:52:01 GMT

There are two kinds of bee mites: tracheal and varroa. Tracheal are
internal, Varroa are external. Colonies die from both mites usually when
the bee population is low and the mite population is high(Winter or early
spring)So far the best solution to tracheal mites has been a healthy colony
with plenty of feed and grease patty added to the colony. Some incorporate
terramycin into the patty for preventative treatment of the various
foulbrood diseases, although new research might show that the terramycin
might help keep the tracheal mites effect at bay.
 Varroa mites are treated with Apistan and maybe in some states other
chemicals, I'm not sure of the exact laws.
 As is usually the case, healthy bees are less susceptible to any stress.
Keep them well fed with honey for over-wintering, and ask your State
Apairist or bee inspector, or maybe extension agent for info. Bee clubs are
also an excellent source of information.
 Buckfast bees, Yugo bees (ARS release) and some others from around the
country are tolerant to tracheal mites. Nothing is tolerant to varroa
yet.
 Adam
-- 
===============================================================================
Adam Finkelstein  VDACS Apiary Inspector 116 Reservoir St Harrisonburg VA 22801
703-433-1006 (V)   703-434-5607 (Fax)   703-564-4394 (Pager)
[email-masked]    [email-masked]        |Bees To Please|
================================================================================

---

From: [email-masked] ()
Date: 20 Apr 94 12:58:51 GMT

I am not an expert on beekeeping but i thought the following topics 
would be of interest:

I read a report that the USDA is working with a Yugoslavian strain that
is resistant to varora mite.  It may be available to the public in a 
few years.

Also i saw a report that the bees are more tolerant to high temperature
than tracheal mites, so it was concluded that painting hives black
instead of white would be useful. 

I am wondering what the experts think of painting the hive black?  

Allen

--