When an article by Dr. Dewey Caron came out in Oregon’s September 2009 issue of ‘The Bee-Line’ on Powder Sugaring Bees, the news editor, Rosanna Matterly asked for response from beekeepers using powdered sugar.
Hi Rosanna & Dewey, I just read the article, Powder Sugaring Bees by Dewey Caron in the September 09 issue of The Bee Line. I wanted to respond to the editor’s request about beekeepers powdered sugaring bees on a regular basis. Since March of 2005, almost 5 years, we have used nothing but powdered sugar to reduce and control varroa mites in our hives. This year, we had 7 hives and by September, even though we dusted the hives in mid-July, the mite counts were over the threshold (50 mites in 24 hours) in several of the hives. We did 5 applications of powdered sugar in 4 weeks and now our high counts are cut in half and the other hives are very low. Although we do not dust every week, we have someone in our club who dusts weekly and has no varroa. We tend to dust our bees several times a year 3 times, one week apart, mostly March, May and July. In September, with the really high counts we could dust 4 to 6 times in 3 weeks. From November though February, we dust once a month. Here in California, we do get a week of nice weather each winter month and it is a great time to get rid of the phonetic mites. August and September, we always have had high mite counts, and with regular dustings, we have always been able to get them down. Yes, it’s intensive, but not hard on the bees or brood at all. One of the things I noticed is at first, the bees almost sounded angry when you dusted them. Now, almost a curious buzzing, they no longer seemed upset.
Thanks, Janet Brisson
Morris Ostofsky also wrote. Dewey included our information plus response to a letter I wrote to Jerry Hayes of the American Bee Journal, soon to be published in Bee Craft America digital newsletter and gave me permission to post it.
Dewey Caron's Article - Powder Sugaring Bees – Does it Work?
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