TREATMENT DAY

Last Sunday and Monday I removed honey supers.  This Thursday and Friday I have been applying MAQS varroa mite treatment.  I treat this early so that the bees that raise the "winter/fat bees" will  hopefully be varroa and virus free.  These pictures taken at 6:30PM show the different reaction various hives have to the MAQS (formic acid vapor) treatment.  All hives had the same relative strength although I must say the hive with the biggest beard was also my best honey producer (5 medium supers).  Whether the queen was also out there in the beard I can't say, but the acid vapor is obviously irritating the bees.  That said 90% of the treated hives had no beard.  So if after treating your hives you see the bees are bearding there is no cause for alarm.