I checked the varroa floors today. There should be massively more than before with the Thymol knocking them off.
The first hive, they've taken more fondant now - I've now sliced the pack open more than it is in the photo so it'll be easier for them to get at it. There were about 300 dead mites (that's about 75/day).
Similar situation with the fondant on the second hive - I've now sliced this pack open more too. There were far fewer dead mites here, only 60 (15/day).The Thymol is clearly working, I just hope it's killing enough of the varroa to actually reduce the infestation sufficiently to save the colony. There must be hundreds more mites still sealed in safe with the bee pupae and they'll be hatching out of the cells as the days pass so I need to keep the treatment on.
Normally I wouldn't open the hive while the treatment is on but we do need to monitor the health of the bees too. If the weather's good at the weekend we'll do another inspection, as normal.
