Bee mites and medication. Tracheal mites and varroa mites live on bees and in bee hives. There are diseases that the bees get such as tracheal mites that lives in the throat of the honeybee and varroa mites....
There are diseases that the bees get such as tracheal mites that lives in the throat of the honeybee and varroa mites. It's what is killing all the bees. The varroa mite lays its egg at the same time a bee egg is laid. The mite sucks all the juice out of the little bee as it is progressing. So the bees come out about half the size they should and do about half the work, if they come out at all.We are also treating for the American Foulbrood. It's a very bad disease. Once your hive gets it, you have to cure it. Normally five gallons of kerosine on top of the hive and a match will cure it. It's a very, very contagious among bees and once they've got it, it will just devastate the brood (the larva).
At this time of the year, after the honey has been extracted we medicate them. We will do it again in the springtime, before the honey flow starts. The honey flow is when everything is blooming, and they are bringing in nectar like crazy and the honey actually flows in. You have to do it before that starts because we don't want medication in the honey. The Chinese did that, and that's the reason the U.S. government banned Chinese honey in the U.S. about three years ago. Europe banned it also.
