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For the better part of decade now I've been listening to people tout the absolute necessity of Varroa mite treatment with statements like "you will lose every hive unless you treat" or "your yard is nothing but a mite bomb for every other beekeeper. Without trying to sound like I don't believe there is a problem I will say that I believe the varroa mite problem (among non commercial beekeepers) is extremely over sold. It is so over sold that from what I see and hear both personally and through all forms of social media new beekeepers typically know more about chemically treating for varroa mites than they do about how to actually manage a honey bee colony.

I happened upon a beginner beekeeping class one afternoon last year when I went to pick up some supplies at a commercial bee yard. I had no knowledge that a class was being held and no intention of interrupting it once I saw but several of the participants were subscribers to this channel and wanted to say hi. I hung out with the group for a few minutes while they finished up their Q&A portion of the class. One person in particular had been peppering the instructor with every possible mite treatment scenario that they could think of to the point no one else was getting to ask questions. When they got to a particularly technical question that she couldn't answer the question was directed to me. I asked, Isn't this a "beginner" beekeeping class?. The student replied that it was. I asked if they had any bees yet. The student replied that they were picking up their first nucs that day. I said "you don't even HAVE any bees yet and they're already sick?. Learn proper hive management before you get a doctorate in pest control." My filter was broke that day so what came to mind just popped out of my mouth. My reply may have been a bit rough but I felt I made my point and maybe even pointed him in a different direction to make his beekeeping life a little easier.

While I don't generally chemically treat there are occasions when I find it preferable to the "all natural" methods I typically employ. Even though I believe it is good to know how to chemically treat there are many good chemical free alternatives. There are even cases where no treatment at all can work. The health and successful proliferation of feral colonies world wide would serve to prove my point as no one is treating them, obviously.

I have some theories about varroa that I haven't shared publicly and I can only back up my theories with data that no one has collected yet regarding feral bees and varroa . Since I see as many feral colonies each year as almost anyone else in the world I figure who better to collect the data I need. I plan to continue this study through 2020 or until the results I'm seeing disprove what I suspect. I will be sampling each swarm and feral colony I encounter this year as well as managed colonies in the same general areas for comparison's sake. Whatever my findings I'll share when I'm done even if my theory is bunk.

Stay tuned for lots more videos.

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Music - Fine With You Gone by Particle House

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