The summer dearth is upon us. Heft your hives and make sure they are not light. If they are light, feed. If your hives are kicking out drones or there are drones, drone larvae, or other larvae on the ground in front of your hives, your bees are starving.
What to do:
Feed you bee 1:1 sugar water NOW (Today). You can use a broadman entrance feeder if you do not have an internal feeder. There is the risk of robbing with a broadman feeder.
1:1 (½ gallon water+ 4 lbs. of sugar) you can mix the sugar with hot tap water. There is no need to boil the water.
Window to Treat for Mites:
Make sure that you test your mite levels before treatment.
Follow the manufactures label instructions.
There appears to be some short periods where hives could be treated for mites with formic acid (Formic Pro) in the next 30 days. Look for 3-4 days where the high temperature is below 85 degrees F. Use the one strip treatment only (10 days). Wait for a second period where the temperature is below 85 degrees F and do the second treatment. Supers can be in place with Formic Pro treatment.
Hives can be treated Apiguard since temperature is not a major concern. Honey supers must be removed with this treatment method.
Apivar can be used to treat hives. The treatment duration is 42-56 days. Honey supers must be removed with this treatment method.
