Hi Cathy,

Thanks for including the beautiful photo of new beeswax! :)

I suggest checking for varroa mites monthly, beginning in May. It's great to hear that you're looking to have treatments on hand.

Tools for Varroa Management Guide from the Honey Bee Health Coalition has information on monitoring and managing varroa mites.

We expect varroa mites to be in every honey bee colony in Michigan. Even package colonies that were treated before shipment may have varroa mites. So, an early season treatment isn't necessarily preventative, because you'd expect it to kill mites living in the colony. Early season treatments may help reduce the overall varroa mite load to slow down the growth in mite population you can expect over the summer and fall.

Since there isn't sealed/capped brood in the hive, all of the varroa mites are exposed on adult bees. You could consider an oxalic acid treatment before there is capped brood. Oxalic acid treatments are most effective when there isn't sealed brood in the hive. I saw your comment that you don't have a vaporizer, but oxalic acid's label has instructions for the "solution method" which is a good option that doesn't require a vaporizer.

You can also consider HopGuard III treatment once the colony is a little larger in population. I'd be inclined to wait until you have new bees emerging so that there are more bees in the hive. HopGuard III is a nice option that can be used in colonies as small as 1-5 frames of bees.

Once the colony is larger in size in the summer/fall, you can consider a formic acid treatment like Formic Pro or Mite Away Quick Strips. These treatments should only be used when the colony has at least 6 full frames of bees, as small colonies can't handle the treatment well. Like all of the treatments I mentioned, you should read and carefully follow the EPA label.

Happy beekeeping!

Hello,

The advisory linked below has a table of varroa mite treatments approved by EPA, but not all are approved by states and available. You'll see VarroxSan is listed in the table. 

Advisory on the Applicability of FIFRA and FFDCA for Substances used to Control Varroa Mites in Beehives | US EPA

Here is information about VarroxSan from the manufacturer:

VarroxSan: Varroa Control | Vita Bee Health (vita-europe.com). They say, "VarroxSan is currently available in a limited number of markets while we undergo regulatory approval. Please contact your local distributor for further information."

I don't have any additional information about when VarroxSan will be publicly available.