ImkerinLena · Bavaria, DE · Pests & Disease · Jul 6, 2026

Mid-July mite check PSA: your spring threshold no longer applies

Yearly reminder for everyone enjoying the flow: do a wash NOW, not in August. In spring a 3% infestation (9 mites per 300 bees) is the common treatment trigger. From mid-summer on I drop that to 2% — 6 per 300 — and many of us in Germany treat even at 1% once the main flow ends. Why? The colony's bee population is about to shrink while the mite population is still climbing, so the same absolute mite count concentrates into fewer bees. The winter bees being reared in August and September must be raised by nurse bees that are NOT virus-riddled. I washed all 24 of my colonies this weekend. Range was 1 to 8 per 300. The two at 7 and 8 get formic as soon as the supers come off. If you wait for the August panic you have already lost the quality of your winter bees. Half a cup of bees, alcohol, two minutes. Do it.

#varroa#alcohol-wash#treatment-threshold#winter-bees

▲ 22 votes 💬 4 replies

4 replies

CorkBeeRon · Jul 6, 2026

Seconding all of this. The colonies people lose in November were killed in July, they just didn't know it yet. I wash the first week of July every year without fail, flow or no flow.

VTBeeHannah · Jul 6, 2026

Question — if I'm at 5 per 300 with supers still on, do I pull the supers early to treat, or is there anything super-safe? Second year and last August I definitely waited too long.

ImkerinLena · Jul 6, 2026

VTBeeHannah: 5 per 300 in July I would not sit on. Formic acid (MAQS/Formic Pro) is labelled for use with honey supers on in many countries — check yours and watch the temperature limits. Otherwise pull supers, treat, done. The honey is not worth the colony.

TexasBeeSam · Jul 7, 2026

Texas checking in, our flow's basically over so supers are off this week anyway. Washed 6 hives Sunday: 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, and one ugly 11. That last one gets treated Thursday. This thread is good timing.

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