Final mite wash of the season — post your before/after treatment numbers here
Annual tradition, third year running: the end-of-season wash thread. Post your pre-treatment count, what you treated with, and your post-treatment verification wash so we build up some community data. Please use alcohol wash or Dawn wash per 300 bees (half cup, level) so numbers are comparable — sugar rolls undercount and it muddies the thread.
Mine from Oregon, 8 colonies: pre-treatment washes ranged 6 to 19 per 300 in early August. Ran Formic Pro, two strips, full 14 days. Post-treatment washes last weekend: 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, and one stubborn 5 that's getting an oxalic follow-up once she's broodless. The colony that washed 19 going in came back at 2, which I'll take.
Your turn — especially interested in anyone who ran extended-release oxalic this year.
#varroa#alcohol-wash#formic-pro#data-thread
▲ 12 votes💬 5 replies
5 replies
TexasBeeSam · Sep 1, 2026
Texas, 12 colonies. Pre: 4 to 14 per 300. Ran Apivar (amitraz) full 56 days since our heat rules out formic half the summer. Post washes: everything at 0-2 except two at 4 that share a fence line with a feral colony in a live oak. Those two get vaporized in November when broodless. The feral tree is my personal mite bomb and I can't do a thing about it.
AbejasCarla · Sep 1, 2026
Andalusia, 15 hives. Pre-treatment: 5-16 per 300. Amitraz strips here too, thymol is useless once we pass 35°C. Post: all under 3 except one at 6 — she was robbing a collapsing colony two stands over in August, I'm sure of it. Requeening her anyway for temper so she gets the full reset. Good thread MayaBees, I look for it every year.
PerthshireBees · Sep 1, 2026
Perthshire, 9 colonies, and my first year on extended-release oxalic (glycerine sponges, on since mid-July) since you asked. Pre: 3-11 per 300. Post washes this week: 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3. Honestly better than my thymol years and no brood interruption. Small sample, one season, cool climate — but I'm cautiously impressed.
PasiekaOlek · Sep 2, 2026
Małopolskie, 10 hives. Pre: 2-9. Ran formic here, 12 of 14 days before a cool spell stalled it. Post: mostly 0-2 but two colonies at 4 and 5 — I think the interrupted treatment is why. Those two get oxalic trickle in the broodless window. Lesson for me: watch the forecast harder before committing strips.
MayaBees · Sep 2, 2026
This is great data, keep it coming. Pattern so far matches last year's thread: whatever the treatment, it's the VERIFICATION wash that separates the winners — TexasBeeSam and AbejasCarla both caught reinvasion colonies that would've looked "treated" on paper. And PerthshireBees, please post those OAE numbers again in spring, that's the comparison everyone wants.