Just continuing on from the old site.
The other day I took off honey from the apiary I had all the problems with and think on this didn't find any AFB this time despite looking pretty hard. A good friend of mine was not so lucky and I helped him collect eight four-storey hives the other day for destruction. He is a good beekeeper so I am pretty sure he is in the same situation as I was with someone else giving him a dose.
Tonight I had a hobbyist bring a frame of brood for me to check. It cost me nothing but a few minutes and fortunately I was able to identify the problem as PMS.
I have never minded helping people with problems and it is so much better to sort out what's wrong and deal with it than leave a problem that can potentially lead to other people having to destroy their hives.
To all my hobbyist friends out there. Varoa will be building up rapidly now and if you want your hives to be alive next spring then I urge you to get hold of some effective treatments. Around here I find it best to get them in sometime between about 15 February and early March but you need to keep an eye open as I have already seen some hives that needed immediate treatment.
The other day I took off honey from the apiary I had all the problems with and think on this didn't find any AFB this time despite looking pretty hard. A good friend of mine was not so lucky and I helped him collect eight four-storey hives the other day for destruction. He is a good beekeeper so I am pretty sure he is in the same situation as I was with someone else giving him a dose.
Tonight I had a hobbyist bring a frame of brood for me to check. It cost me nothing but a few minutes and fortunately I was able to identify the problem as PMS.
I have never minded helping people with problems and it is so much better to sort out what's wrong and deal with it than leave a problem that can potentially lead to other people having to destroy their hives.
To all my hobbyist friends out there. Varoa will be building up rapidly now and if you want your hives to be alive next spring then I urge you to get hold of some effective treatments. Around here I find it best to get them in sometime between about 15 February and early March but you need to keep an eye open as I have already seen some hives that needed immediate treatment.