Newbie with the bees i've certainly learned alot Hooray for u tube Thank You.

What an absolutely brilliant idea

Here in North India, beekeepers make Honey Vinegar locally. This is placed in a plastic bottle with a hole on the plastic lid. The brood chamber is then systematically squirted with the liquid all along the sides of each frame. The liquid trickles off the body of the bees. They have been doing this for years with success. If you cannot make honey vinegar you may use the usual sugar syrup with vinegar. I have tried this thrice this season. once before harvesting the honey and once after. The number of defective bees or dead larvae has gone down drastically.

It was just a great video! Really needed the support in not using chemicals and other options to deal with the mites. Thank you)))

Wow, this is very interesting. Thank you,

Mist bottle with sugar water works better than a smoker. And it reduces mites and helps prevent robbing.

Amazing. Thanks for this. I don't like using chemicals and this seems win-win

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Best to you and your bees.

Great video!

I clicked like . .I clicked subscribe and your Powder Sugar treatment (as i seen it as ) is so effective and non intrusive . .I can respect your efforts in keeping your hives naturally healthy proactive approach . great team work . . .

I really appreciate you being a Natural beekeeper. We are leading the new way into beekeeping. Grateful. Heres is a great natural feeding trick that I have used for years and it works to well. Blend together 1/2 gallon of filtered water with, 1 teaspoon of mineral salts, 1 teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar, and 1/5 super ripe bananas. This give the bees everything they need---minerals, potassium, magnesium, fats, carbs, proteins, and amino acids.

Thank you. I like your method

Great info, thanks for sharing

My first year I like the idea and will try it Canadian here Alberta

Great video! Thank you so much!

Thank You

great vid! very informative

Thanks. Very interesting method. I will try it with my bees.

GREAT THANKS BRILLIANT informative yay

Thanks for the video. I’ve attended beekeeping meetings where studies were discussed regarding varroa. Some treatments have modest to very limited effectiveness. I listened to both U of Minn & Georgia folks. They are kind in their comments and say doing something is better than nothing. That said screened bottom boards & powdered sugar fall in that category. I had hoped sugar would have a better result. The universities did extensive work and I have to admit I was impressed concerning the depth of their studies. Since varroa are mainly located in capped brood it is very rare to see them on a cell, frame or bee. Wish I could rave about this. So far using hopguard and Oxalic acid. Have used apiguard in past years. As is always stated, there are many ways to do a task.

Could you share any other natural methods for mites that you use. It would be helpful.

I am a new bee keeper this 16th July. I really liked you video and the fact that no chemicals are used to keep your bees healthy. It always been said prevention is better that a cure and I feel strongly that you have succeeded in preventing a problem before it takes hold. I think your method is well worth copying especially not knowing for definite that these bees are infected or not. I have seen two minute beetles that are definitely not red so whether they are varroa or not is very disconcerting to a new beekeeper. Due to seeing only two insects I intend to stock up on icing sugar and give them a light dusting as per your instructions.. Once they have had there first dust bath I feel sure they'll look forward to seeing me again when I approach them with the shaker! Three dust baths to come..... and best bit is no harm done....

great, thank you,,

Awesome

What is the effect of missing all the foragers which are out of the hive? Have you tried doing this in the late evening to make sure you get them as well?

You mention how you treat the other pests. How do you treat or prevent for tracheal mites?

I found this very helpful. I have mites on the screenboard, but alcohol washes are showing very few mites. My guess is that my bees are good at pulling the mites off. I'm about to use Apivar but I really want to avoid that, so I'm going to try this for a few days and see if I can get the screenboard count down.

Does this method damages the egg of the bee, open or closed baby bees? I'll be glad if you answer my question. Thank you!

which months are the most suitable, pls ?

🛫📖🛬 Fantastic video; so very informative! Thank you very much for sharing. 📖🛐✈️🐆

I’m in the northeast. When do you recommend to do this method?

Some one said on a forum about beekeeping that the icing sugar method was not conducive of what is going on re varroa mite infestation. He was quite abrupt in saying if you don't see any after dosing with icing sugar they are still there. After using illegal oxalic acid and glycerine strips I have come to the conclusion that this method does kill all the varrao. I base my opinion on the fact that after two dustings of icing sugar last year that did not shift a single mite and dispite a vigorous fumigation with 4 gram of oxalic acid, some mites survived till this year. A month ago + one week I put in two 'strips' of oxalic acid and glycerine as per Randy Oliver's data. Within one month from 50+ drop per day at the beginning to 6 mites in two weeks and then NIL mite drop after a week I would evaluate that the 'strip' method works when the icing sugar did not. A caring beekeeper by the name of Harris says = this may be the silver bullet we have been hoping for' I now am very much inclined to believe him whole heartedly. I now feel the icing sugar is better on cakes than on bees. If the icing sugar works for certain individuals then great, but it did not work for my bees who must have been irritated by those terrible mites. Another plus is that I have seen not one bee with Deformed wing virus, as opposed to last December when I saw 2 dead with that virus. Although I saw not one single mite for 6 months I did see two dead with the virus Dec 5th 2021 so immediately used my contraption that delivers the oxalic acid fumes that does kill varroa but I might add -not all the varroa in the hive could have been killed. it's interesting to note that some scientific researchers on oxalic acid sublimation recommend 6 doses at 4 gram a time 3-4 days apart..... Wow.

Do you make this with all hives?

Do you dust only the brood chamber frames or all that have bees on them?

So powered sugar really works on mites then what do you do?

If there are uncapped brood, would powdered sugar not fall on the larvae and eggs? If yes, would that not be an issue?

SO this doesn't actually kill the mites just makes them drop off, what is to stop them from getting right back on?

what are all preventative measures that you do and how often do you do them? great video

How long does it take to do one large hive? So you have very little hive loss using this method and your in Michigan?

Once the mites fall off the bees how to get rid of them out of the hive?

Is it safe while queen laying eggs ?

How well are you able to have winter survival rates from powdered sugar methods like this? Can you consistently year to year get over 70% winter survival? Or more? I'd be highly interested in even a decent survival rate, and not expecting perfection. There's just the hope that something will work, especially when you hear about other people losing colonies in spring first inspections. You said you do this in spring, summer, and 2x in fall...its hard to perceive why it works to only do it that much? What would you do between those time periods? Will your method fail if someone isn't using a screened bottom, or a bottom where the mites can fall out of the bottom when knocked off by the bees?

What do you use for hive moths

What happen to all this sugar after they groom themselves? Do they use it?

Wonderful video! You said you saw 1 beetle in several years ... since you use this as part of an integrated approach, how do you know how effective the sugar treatment is as compared to your other treatments? Do you notice a difference between using sugar with regular Italian bees and bees that have hygienic characteristics.

LOVE the idea of preventative measures without chemicals! New beek question...the powdered sugar is not hurtful to open brood?

Do you powder the brood boxes only, or also the supers once the summer starts? Thanks for the vid

Did you continue to treat this way for season 2018. Any concerns about suffocating the queen with powder sugar? Thank you for your comments.

great super great video ---mites --ok please post SHB video how you treat natural method next questions is ok sure mites fall through the screen on the ground --now would not the mites jump back into the hive

I have beetle buster boards, not screen boards, would the mites just go back up onto the bees? Are you familiar with the beetle board????

We did an icing sugar powdering of our new in July this year bees and saw no varroa next couple of days on the sticky board under the stainless mesh floor. I spoke with the bee breeder who sold me the bees and he said some hives have the varroa some do not have it. In the UK it is legal to use a certain oxalic acid treatment but that has another ingredient in it and is not for vaporisation. I would have thought that a vapour is more effective instead of squirting fluid onto the bees. I would think that Frederick Dunn is the expert to copy if indeed any varroa are actually seen. I treatment is advised, I see on new years day! If I don't see any varroa although I've manufactured the vaporiser,they will not be 'vaped'! There is a research chap south of England who sells 'hygienic' bees but no answer to his emails?

How about the mites in the cells.

Does this application not kill honey bee larvae

In a warmer climate would you add a treatment in the winter well? It was 80 here today :)

Are you using "store" bought powered sugar or do make your own by grinding regular sugar?

Thanks for the tips I will be doing that to my bees . What kind of shaker do you use ?

I don’t have a screen button to catch the varroa, what can I do? Thank you 🐝🐝🐝

Do you sell queens? Do you have a website where I can order one?

As far as I'm aware we don't have small hive beetles in the uk.wax moth and varroa yes

Love the idea of powder coating, I have to admit I tried the other way of coating the top of the frames.also what's your view on using oxalic acid with a vaporiser

Thank you very much for the video. Well done! My question- Do you normally do these treatments early morning or late afternoon to get as many bees covered or does it matter?

hello im a beginner and i would like to know how often we have to do this process ??

Just curious if this is what you guys still do? I just started keeping bees, first spring, first year and so I want to do it as natural as possible. This looks like it would not only be easy, but safe and best for my bees.

How often do you do this treatment? Once a month or every weekly inspection?

What will be the quality of honey ?

I want to try this next spring unless I half to I would rather not put poison in my hives That's a old flour sifter I have one lol

I bought powdered sugar. It had corn starch in it. It seems like all powdered sugar does. Does that matter??

Good video. What do you like to do for SHB? Thank you.

I believe this is the best if you use screen bottom board so mites can't get back up,slowest way to treat, fastest way is fogging these two ways no chemicals in the honey

I was recently researching sugar syrup alternatives (and finding that I should ONLY be using regular ole granulated sugar...). I remember that it specifically urged not to use baking-use powdered sugar since it contains cornstarch as an anti-caking agent. I read in these comments that you believe the bees are consuming very little, but merely cleaning it off. But have you tried finding a powered sugar without this additive, or can you comment on the issue of cornstarch in the mixture?

How often do you use the powdered sugar treatment

Loved seeing this! Please reach out to Just Alex and let him know about this. He's got a very large channel and bees. I suspect he'd love to learn about this.

What about uncapped brood. Does this method effect them?

Do you do any mite washes any time of year? How much powered sugar per box are you using? What's your winter survival rate? What is the honey production per hive? How many hives do you have? Is powdered sugar the only varoa managment method you use?

You say you do this once in the spring and once in the summer and twice in the fall. How soon in the spring do you do this and what time in the summer and when in the fall and how far between the two treatments in the fall? Would it be good to do this powder sugar dusting on newly installed package bees? Do you have a list of videos you do talking about all the non toxic, chemical free treatments you use such as this one? I refuse to use any chemicals and medications in my bees but am struggling to be a successful beekeeper.

I heard that this has worked for 12 years but then read you use other methods? What other methods are used, I got excited thinking this would be all I needed

What type of powder sugar do you use and where do you purchase your sugar?

How many colonies do you run? What’s you’re loss rate?

Does the powdered sugar do anything for wax moths ? Looking to be proactive here also. Thanks

Will the powder sugar affect the honey?

Just confirming that with hardly ever seeing mites on your bees, you’ve never had a colony loss to Verona mites? Thanks for the video!

So I’m not much of a cook so forgive a possible dumb question all the powdered sugar I can find has corn starch in it is that ok to use or do I need to look further

Does this affect the purity/flavour of the honey ?

Hello In France, this method is not used or recommended. but I still want to test because my colonies are not very infested. I read that this method kills open brood, is this true? do you only use this method or do you supplement with oxalic/formic acid or thymol? Thank for sharing !

Try dusting with Strong Microbials instead of powdered sugar. Strong Microbials does the same thing but it offers the bees probiotics.

Jaka przyszłość czeka małą komórkę 4 .9 mm? Pozdrawiam !

Oxalic strips are used extensively in NZ. A mixture of 40% oxalic acid and 60% glycerine is heated up to 60 degrees in pan ~ no more heat or it starts to turn into formic acid. Once colour is clear which shows glycerine has mixed with the oxalic acid, it can be poured on the special hardened cardboard strips. Strips are dipped in solution, then taken out of container llowed to dry for a day then draped over brood frames. three or four strips may be used on each brood box every second frame. Oxalic acid being a naturally formed acid in certain plants gets on the bodies of mites and kills them. Replace strips every six weeks. It is very effective in keeping mite to very low count and has benifit of keeping isease down too. Look up NZ oxalic strips and how to control Varroah...

ALso, does the powder sugar get into the honey?

So what’s your mite count? Before and after your treatment??!!

Is it a concern to get some sugar into cells with eggs or larvae?

How often do you treat the hive this way?

So you say that you’ve only seen one…. But do you actually check for them with alcohol washes or do you just mean one you happened to see?

What is your survival rate through winter? Thanks

Do you do powdered sugar to only brood or even in honey supers?

Thing is, if your doing mite counts just with sight, you cannot always see them. They live in drown cells, and under the belly of worker bees.

Is pure or soft powder sugar (icing sugar in Australia) better? Or does it not matter which one? Thanks

You have it over powdered sugar... You do not mean the stuff you can get to put on top of cakes ?? Is it gem sugar grinded or ???

Do you dust the honey supers or just the deeps?

i need to know all rhe kone chemical for my two hives. i ask other bee keepers and they are all against it. i lice in Florida and cant do the heat strips cas its to hot here. i will be doing this method for sure. it sucks cas im the only one that deals with the bees, tow people ugh

Are the bees EATING the sugar so that they get some nourishment from it or just cleaning it off?