Hopguard Time

This past Tuesday, May 25, I finally got my hands on some Hopguard. I stopped in at the Honey Exchange and picked up a package. I would have bought some previously, but they were out of stock.

I had noticed a wingless drone at the entrance to the hive the previous week and figured that I must have some mites with their associated viruses. The Hopguard is messy, but easy, supposedly safe, and not temperature dependent. I found that all 3 mediums had brood, nectar, honey and pollen so I put 2 strips per brood box into the hive and added another medium of foundation. The hive seemed to be well-populated, and I saw some eggs, but not the queen. I did see some sick bees. Besides seeing another wingless drone (Deformed Wing Virus), I saw some black greasy-looking bees and some others that were not fully black, but also not normal. I did not have my camera, but I looked for similar images on the web and found these:

These are indicative of Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus. Another in the list of diseases transmitted by mites. I looked around on the web and from the discussion there is no cure or treatment and bees can be asymptomatic and healthy while carrying this virus. It seems like they show symptoms when the mites weaken them. The Hopguard is supposed to stay on for 30 days and does not affect adding supers. It can be applied 3 times a year so I expect to keep the current dosage on for a month and then assess the status of the mites. At the very least I will apply Hopguard again in the fall.

I had actually hoped to see some swarm cells, but I guess the hive was not overcrowded yet. Adding another box should keep them happy for another week at least. I was hoping to harvest honey this year, but so far that is not looking good.