Treating the Bees.

The first Sunday of each month is the day that Newbattle Abbey beekeepers meet to work in the apiary and to learn about beekeeping. Today we were using a new treatment against varroa. From the first mite infecting a colony to that colony dying is about eighteen months if left untreated and, while non-chemical controls can be used, they are of limited value; not treating is not an option. The procedure is fairly simple, ideal for newbies who have never looked inside a hive before. For some unexplained reason, you should not feed bees while they receive this medication and, because the chemical causes them problems you should only treat strong colonies with it. The procedure is to look inside the hive, make sure that there is a large enough population (occupying six frames according to the book), make sure that they have enough food stores to last the week of treatment and, if all is ok, lay a couple of paper sachets cross the top of the frames. The sachets are porous and contain a formic acid gel, the fumes of which can permeate wax and so kill mites inside the cells of pupating bees. The acid is corrosive, so you don't sniff it, and is also harmful to the bees - it's just not as harmful as the mites are.

To put it in perspective, all of the medicines that I put into my body are poisonous, but I don't want to have another heart attack.