Opinions on Varroa Heat Treatment?

[Andy M.]

Hi All,

In poking around and reading literature on it (see attached paper from American Bee Journal) I am thinking I may gear up to try this approach next year.  

Here's my planned setup:

Lyson Polystyrene Hive - 10 Frame (https://www.betterbee.com/lyson-hive-kits/LYIKU.asp)

Mighty Mite Thermal Treatment System (https://www.beehivethermalindustries.com/product/10in-frame/)

I plan on doing at least three rounds of treatments (spring, summer, and fall) where I treat twice two weeks apart.  I will be monitoring mite drop pre and post treatment and will relay my results here.

Is this a stupid idea? What are your opinions of treating for varroa using heat instead of chemical based approaches? I'm leery about treating with stuff that's bad for bees but worse for mites (chemicals) but I'm also conscious of how much like an anti-vaxxer I sound so I'm trying to find an organic approach that still works towards solving the problem.

Thanks for your advice!

Andy

[Scott Johnson]

Did someone really just ask for varroa opinions on an open forum?! Oh my! I'll see you all in a week when we dig out from the flurry of both literal snow and figurative avalanche of emails about to descend on us.

:-)

Always a good discussion, but be sure to separate anecdote from controlled studies. That's my opinion.

See my study on this here: https://lowtechinstitute.org/category/research/no-3-breeding-drone-colonies/

And my presentation on the scientific literature here: https://lowtechinstitute.org/2017/11/08/varroa-mite-presentation-slideshow-notes-and-resources/

Good luck and happy shoveling,

Scott

========================================
Scott Johnson Ph.D.

Director
Low Technology Institute

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[Andy M.]

Thanks for the links Scott but I wasn't able to find anything within either discussing this particular approach (heating entire hive with comb in place to precise temperature, 40C, to treat for mites).  Am I missing something?  

At this point I'm sure everyone's seen the "fancy" $1000 hive at CES this year (https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/cocoon-bee-hive-ces-2019/), which is initially what piqued my interest in this approach. As an engineer with a focus on reliable data I do have an appreciation for scientific studies vs anecdotal evidence.  The paper I attached in the previous email seems to be a well set up study. Do you have any thoughts specific to the questions I asked in the first email?

Thanks for your time,

Andy

[Scott Johnson]

Hi Andy,

Sorry, you're right! I didn't spend any time on thermal treatment.

My initial reaction is mixed. I think it is a great idea and the testing looks promising. I would have liked to see a study expanded into a whole hive situation and not the large "incubator" area described in the study. Perhaps this has been done and the results are published elsewhere? One problem I see is that bees like to brood around 32--35C (90--95F) and if you hold their temp at 40C (104F) it may 1) negatively impact brood health and/or 2) stress the bees in a hive trying to cool it off. I don't know this, but it is my initial thought. Now, if you did the thermal treatment at the end of a brood break, when you have no brood present and all the mites should be on adult bees, this might be a great behavioral-plus-treatment method. Also, comb might get pretty soft, so if it is new comb and full of honey, it might do better on plastic foundation or at least wired foundation, but that's only a minor issue.

I've never used poly hives and can't speak to them with experience but I wonder about temperature build-up in the summer and moisture build-up in the winter. Perhaps someone here has used them?

In sum, a promising idea. If you have the hives for it, say, ten hives, do this with five and do your regular treatments (if any) with the others, trying to keep variables constant and see how the mite counts fare year on year. You know, because we all have ten hives we can experiment with, right?

Sounds like a good report to give once you've tried it. I'm sure we'd all be glad for it to work well.

Scott

========================================
Scott Johnson Ph.D.

Director
Low Technology Institute

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[Matt H]

I have a used polystyrene hive I'll sell you for $50 if you want to give it a go. Bottom board, outer cover, and I believe 3 deep boxes (I'll check). I believe it's BeeMax brand.

[Andy M.]

Sold!  I'll send you a separate email with contact info.

[Andy M.]

Matt,

What's your contact info?

-Andy