Hive Inspection, Brood Disease Testing, and Varroa Mites increasing, more than 17% mite count.

Описание: In this video, I have to stop my routine hive inspection of the Long Langstroth hive.
The reason is that I noticed brood issues.
I decided to share how to perform a brood disease evaluation and what the results are.
It's very important to rule out American foul brood and European foul brood, then continue from there.
If in doubt, always contact your State Ag Apiary Inspector.
Positive AFB tests must be reported asap.
This colony had mites during the last mite-count but were at levels that I considered manageable without treatment.
As the nectar and pollen filled the frames of this Long Langstroth hive, the brood area was greatly reduced which also concentrates the varroa destructor mites.
The result is higher mite counts on the nurse bees which are on the brood frames.
The mite-count results are bad for this colony.
The fix that I have decided to implement -
1) Treat for mites with OAV, normally this time of year, that isn't preferred, but with the four brood frames removed and few capped brood areas remaining, the OAV will be very effective even with the first treatment.

2) Since brood frames have been removed, I'm replacing them with better comb pre-drawn synthetic wax deep frames (four full frames). Without the sacbrood virus on those frames and without having to remove the diseased brood, the bees will have a fresh start with fewer mites.

3) I will offer syrup with HiveAlive in it at 1/2 tsp / pint. The dose amount recommended by the manufacturer is 1 gallon of syrup. Since they already have more than enough winter stores of honey, I'm providing the HiveAlive in a 1:1 sugar syrup.
I will follow up on the progress of this hive with brood inspections and mite-counts.

IMPORTANT:
This year I've kept hive tools separate, or cleaned/disinfected between all hives. You can boil them, or submerge in 10% bleach and water.
I leave a hive tool in each hive, those tools don't get used on any other hives save for the one assigned.
My multi-hive tool has many surfaces and needs the bleach treatment between hives.
Sacbrood can be overcome by healthy colonies that are not overly challenged by mite levels. If I did not treat this colony, it would have become a mite-bomb and spread virus loads as well as varroa mites to other colonies that are "making it" otherwise.

LINKS TO ITEMS SHOWN IN THIS VIDEO ARE BELOW:

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1- AFB Field Test Kit (know what you may be dealing with) -
https://amzn.to/3CGkSTP

2- EFB Field Test Kit:
https://amzn.to/3zwGiAL

3- It's too late for the bees to draw new clean comb, so I will be placing bettercomb in the hive for rapid recovery of brood numbers:
https://www.betterbee.com/hives-and-c...

4- The mite wash kit I used is here (I use Dawn as the release agent)

Mite Wash Kit: https://amzn.to/3u2w8Xh

Dawn soap is safe for the environment and releases mites: https://amzn.to/3u3RxiM

5- I will be boosting hive overall health by administering HiveAlive in sugar syrup. If you want to read the science behind it, here is a link: (proven to boost brood) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/...

If you want to use HiveAlive to boost your colony numbers, here is a link: https://amzn.to/3CHl5Gl

SUGGESTION:
Have phone numbers of your Dept. of Ag Inspection Services handy
Have surgical gloves on hand just in case you have suspicious and possibly contagious hive conditions.

Nitrile Gloves that I use are either white or blue, they do not prevent stings, but are good for bio-security and do reduce the attention your hands receive from angsty guard bees: https://amzn.to/3EKo7ez

IF my hive tested positive for AFB, all hive frames, components, and bees would have been destroyed under the supervision of our State Apiary Inspector. Quarantine your hive by placing screens over the entrance at night. Follow your Dept. of Ag Guidelines.

NOTE: Other hives throughout the apiary are not currently showing signs of brood disease, but I will up my monitoring schedule. Honey from these hives, including this Long Lang is considered safe for people but should not be recycled to other beehives as feed.