Blue Sky Bee Supply Blog
Oxalic Acid FAQs
WHAT IS OXALIC ACID?
Oxalic Acid is a naturally occurring acid found in plants. It became popular in Europe & Canada for treating Varroa Mites in a honey bee hive.
IS IT A LEGAL VARROA TREATMENT IN THE UNITES STATES?
Oxalic Acid has been approved by the EPA to treat honey bee colonies in the United States. It can not be shipped to California at this time.
Versions of Oxalic Acid can be found in hardware stores but those have various additives mixed with them that can c
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Oct 27th 2021
COLD STORAGE FOR HONEY BEE COLONIES BREAKS THE BROOD CYCLE AND MAKES VARROA TREATMENTS MORE EFFECTIVE. HOW COOL!!
The black bump on this honey bee’s back is a varroa mite. Mites weaken bees’ immune systems, transmit viruses, and siphon off nutrients. Photo by Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service. By: Scott Weybright – College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – Saving honey bees is easier when varroa mite infestation is reduced. WSU researchers are hoping mid-season hibernation can help in the fight against the mighty mites.Varroa mites are pests t
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Oct 26th 2021
USDA Honey Bee Disease Diagnostic Services Collaboration Between USDA-ARS, APHIS, & BeeInformed Partnership Starts Today.
A joint collaboration between the Bee Informed
Partnership, the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory and USDA-APHIS has
been established in the short term to primarily provide for free
diagnostics of honey bee brood for American foul brood
disease and other brood diseases. We will also offer other pest and disease diagnostics for a nominal fee. Please see https://beeinformed.org/diagnostics/ for additional information.
Thank you for your patience. We realize the challenges a
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Oct 26th 2021
HOW TO DETECT VARROA MITES IN YOUR BEEHIVE
Somehow the Varroa mite has made its way from Asia to beehives in all parts of the world, with the exception of Hawaii. Varroa has been in the United States since the late 1980s (maybe longer) and has created quite a problem for beekeepers. Resembling a small tick, this mite is about the size of a pinhead and is visible to the naked eye. Like a tick, the adult female mite attaches herself to a bee and feeds on its blood.
Within the cells Varroa mites feed on the developing bees and lay
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Oct 26th 2021
Parasitic Mites That Transmit A Honey Bee-Infecting Virus May Benefit From Spreading The Pathogen, A Study Shows. A Definite Parasite-Pathogen Partnership. Destroy Honey Bee Immunity, Increase Varroa Reproduction.
Image By David Dewitt (TheCozyCoffee.com)
Honey bee (Apis mellifera)WIKIMEDIA, CUMNOR HILL
Honey bee colony losses concern beekeepers and agriculturists alike, as Apis mellifera are important crop pollinators. A pair of factors that affect the health of honey bee colonies are the mite, Varroa destructor—which parasitizes honey bee larvae—and the pathogenic deformed wing virus (DWV), which V. destructor
can transmit. Scientists have long tried to understand the details of
the mite-v
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Oct 26th 2021