Mite Away Quick Strips have a treatment period of just seven days. Daytime temperatures must be between 50° F – 84° F (10° C- 29° C). Lay strips across the tops of the brood frames, and they can be used during a honey flow if necessary.
Full Answer
Why Maqs mite away quick strips?
MITE AWAY QUICK STRIPS ARE FORMIC ACID POLYSACCHARIDE GEL STRIPS FOR THE TREATMENT AND CONTROL OF VARROOSIS CAUSED BY THE VARROA DESTRUCTOR IN HONEY BEES ( APIS MELLIFERA ). Why MAQS? MAQS has 90-99% efficacy and kills mites under the cap. Treat during the Honey Flow.
How can I prevent mites from spreading in my apiary?
To mitigate the risk of spreading, you should always isolate package bees, captured swarms and any new colonies you bring home. This way, it will be easy to inspect them for mites before introducing them to the apiary. How Do MiteAway Quick Strips Work?
How do you get rid of mites on a drone?
Special drone frame s can be used to encourage drone production. Once filled with capped drone brood and developing mites inside, the frame is removed. Freeze the whole frame, killing the mites and the drone brood is sacrificed as well. After thawing, the frame is put back into the hive for reuse.
Are miteaway quick strips toxic to bees?
Formic Acid, the main component of MiteAway Quick Strips, can be toxic to both the applicant (the beekeeper) and the bees/brood. Underdosing the hive results in ineffective varroa control, whereas using too much can result in brood or colony death. It’s crucial you read the instructions well, and use the recommended number of strips per hive.
How do I get rid of mites on quick strips?
Spent strips need not be removed after treatment. If they are removed, dispose of by composting. Treat all colonies in the apia, jt the same time. Allow a minimum of one mo, between applications.
Do you treat for mites in the spring?
Early spring and fall are the best times of the year to treat for mites. That's when we usually do not have honey supers on the hive and we have a minimum amount of capped brood. All mite treatment options can be used at those times.
Should I treat for Varroa mites in spring?
Without a doubt your bees need a good dose of Varroa Mite treatment in mid winter as well as in early to mid spring. Although in mid winter you're limited to doing a 'blind' treatment (no count) because it'd be a bad idea to open up the hive, the early to mid spring time period is a little different.
How long do you leave Mite Away Quick Strips?
7 daysThe treatment period is 7 days, treatment ends at day 7. Outside daytime temperature highs should be between 50 - 85°F on day application. Hot temperatures (>92°F) during the first three days may cause excessive brood mortality and queen loss.
Can I use Apivar in the spring?
Apivar can be used year-round to treat Varroa mites. Apply the strips for one treatment in the spring and/or one treatment in the fall.
Can I use Apiguard in the spring?
A: Apiguard can be used in springtime, if necessary, provided the daily temperature is high enough. However, it is not the best time to apply the product.
What time of year do you treat for Varroa mites?
Many beekeepers like to treat the mites in August and then again in the dead of winter when little capped brood is present. A second treatment in winter may be especially important in very strong colonies that robbed other colonies in the fall. Robbers often attack a weak colony that is dying.
What is the most effective treatment for Varroa mites?
The most popular essential oil for varroa mite control is thymol (from a thyme plant). While thymol treatment can effectively control mites on adult bees, it cannot penetrate the cell cappings, so does not control mites in brood cells. Efficacy of thymol is dependent on colony strength as well as ambient conditions.
What month do you treat Varroa mites?
As an example, if beekeepers want to control Varroa mites in their colonies by 31 August when the first Winter bees are emerging as adults in the prairie provinces, then miticide treatments should be applied before 17 August; that is the date when worker larvae are being sealed into their cells that will emerge as ...
How does Mite Away Quick Strips work?
0:015:44Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS) Application Video North AmericaYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe strip's innovation makes the formic acid molecule sticky. It can penetrate the Brut capMoreThe strip's innovation makes the formic acid molecule sticky. It can penetrate the Brut cap targeting mites where they reproduce. And helps arrest the transmission of viruses.
What is the difference between Formic Pro and Mite Away Quick Strips?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FORMIC PRO AND THE MITE AWAY QUICK STRIPS? Formic Pro is the next generation product to the Mite Away Quick Strips formulation. The major differences include the shelf life, 24-months (FP) vs. 12-months (MAQS), treatment period, 14 or 20 days (FP) vs.
How do you use Varroa mite strips?
2:055:02How to Use Apivar® to Control Varroa Mites - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBe sure to hang strips. Between frames containing brood where bees can walk on both sides of theMoreBe sure to hang strips. Between frames containing brood where bees can walk on both sides of the strip. Space strips at least two frames apart.
How long does it take for a mite to kill a queen?
Mite away quick strips may also kill eggs and some of the young brood, while also stopping the queen from laying eggs for up to 10 days. If you see no evidence of egg laying after 5-10 days it would be wise to do a thorough hive inspection and check the hive still has a queen.
How big are mites in hives?
It’s vital that you inspect your hives regularly to identify mite infestations when it’s still early. An adult female mite will have eight legs and a red-brown, flattened body that extends to about 1 or 1.5mm in width. The good thing is that this parasite is big enough to be seen by the naked eye.
What is the best treatment for varroa?
One of the best treatments for varroa infestations is the MiteAway Quick Strips (MAQS). ...
Does honey kill mites?
MAQS contain formic acid, which is one of the natural components of honey, which is one of the reasons it’s able to destroy mites without harming the bees, but formic acid releases formic vapours which can be toxic in high concentrations.
Can a varroa mite be seen by the naked eye?
The good thing is that this parasite is big enough to be seen by the naked eye. A varroa mite on a honeybee. An infestation of varroa destructor can wipe out your colony, and subsequently, put you out of the beekeeping business. This is because the mites spread easily from one colony to another.
How long does it take to get rid of mites with Apivar?
However, the downside to using this method in the spring is the duration: treatment takes 42 days with no supers in place.
How long does it take formic pro to work?
While both can be used once daytime highs are steadily in the 50’s, Mite Away Quick Strips are a 7-day treatment and Formic Pro takes 14 days. Simply place two pads between the brood boxes. After treatment, if the bees haven’t carried the delivery pads out the front entrance, you can remove them by hand.
Introduction
Trial #1
- Materials and Methods The unusually warm winter of 2011-2012 was a good opportunity to test the method, since mite levels were unacceptably high by early April. We used a batch of nucs grafted from two queen mothers (the majority from one mother) on April 12. On May 1 (Day 19 after make up) we equalized them to 48 queenright nucs each containing 5 full frames of bees b…
Trial #2
- Materials and Methods We ran a second trial with oxalic dribble alone to see whether we would obtain similar results as from Trial 1. Grafting (all from the same queen mother) took place May 3, and we made up 4-frame nucs 9 days later. In this trial, the weather was warm, and the queens started laying unusually early, with mature larvae at Day 15 after nuc make up. We equalized 36 …
Overall Discussion
- Despite the fact that in both trials some brood had already been sealed by the time I applied treatment, the method was not only very effective at reducing mite levels (to 1 per 100 bees in most colonies), but also inexpensive (pennies) and quick. Based upon the early results, we treated several hundred nucs this spring with oxalic dribble at Day 19, and did not notice any difference i…
Conclusion
- This method uses precise timing, combined with making normal colony increase, to gain the most advantage of residue-free “natural” mite treatments. The oxalic dribble costs pennies and takes seconds to apply. We already love it for early winter treatment at cessation of broodrearing, and now can also use it in spring. Our findings also call for more research on the possible effect of o…
Acknowledgements
- I greatly appreciate the help in running this trial from my sons Eric and Ian, whose labor was covered by your generous donations to ScientificBeekeeping.com. I especially wish to thank volunteer Brion Dunbar for his unstinting assistance throughout the trial. The Hive Clean was generously donated by BeeVital, Seeham, Austria.