To treat or not?

Integrated Pest Management(IPM) is a principal that the Ontario Beekeepers Association(OBA) is really pushing as an economical and the healthiest way to manage bees in Ontario. It involves monitoring levels of various ailments in the hive and determining if those levels have reached the economic thresholds. When the economic threshold is reached, there is a treatment available but of course this is at a cost to the beekeeper (for the chemical treatment and "downtime" of the colony).

An example of this is my current formic acid treatment for my Varroa Mite infestation. I monitored the mite drop over several days and I physically saw that their was mites in the uncapped brood. The economic threshold was reached and the hive require an intervention. I choose to use Mite Away II (formic acid pad) because I have some on hand and it is a soft chemical treatment (formic acid is found in nature). I also chose Mite Away II because it is a 3 week treatment.

The purpose of this post is that I am questioning if I should treat for prevention of Nosema and foulbrood. I treated for these in the fall of last year without there actually being any symptoms. There still are no symptoms of these diseases in my hives and I am thinking of not treating for them. The more you treat for diseases, the more that the diseases develop resistance to the drugs.

Hang on!