4 Week Varroa Treatment Done.

[Millet]

I have used apilife var strip's and they seem to have killed a load of mite's over the past several week's thousand's.. the treatment does not end till tomorrow i counted a average of 16 dead mites per day while the apilife strip's are still in there over this last week..

My question is do i stick by the book and my gut instinct and end the treatment tomorrow or would you experienced folk carry on treatment.. i have 1 week's worth of treatment left should i bin it like the instructions state to avoid mites becoming resistant or should i give it 1 more week of treatment..

Thank you in advance Steve.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Never been an instance of mites becoming resistant to thymol (the rest is just snake oil to lure the buyers in anyway) so crack on with it if you think your mite load is that bad

 

[BeeJayBee]

I have used apilife var strips ... i have 1 week's worth of treatment left should i bin it like the instructions state to avoid mites becoming resistant or should i give it 1 more week of treatment..

I'm not sure where you've read those instructions. This is what it says for Apilife var. http://beekeeping.com/chemical-laif/index.htm

Instructions for use: place a tablet broken in 3-4 bits on the lath holding the comb (see the picture), close the beehive and let the product act for 7-8 days, repeat for 3-4 times the treatment according to the grade of infestation of the beehive. Remove eventual residuals of the tablets after the last treatment. The product should be use in the summer period (July-August-September) and anyway in periods of the year with temperatures superior to 20° C.​

 

[Millet]

I know how to use the product BeeJay.. my 4 treatment's are done and I still have mite's dropping..i have one treatment left which will take me to doing 5 treatment's.. 3 treatment's are recommended with a 4th if need be..

I don't know where I have read they can become used to the treatment but I have read it somewhere ..

Does anyone else have any experience in using this product.
Thank's.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I know how to use the product BeeJay.. my 4 treatment's are done and I still have mite's dropping..i have one treatment left which will take me to doing 5 treatment's.. 3 treatment's are recommended with a 4th if need be..

I don't know where I have read they can become used to the treatment but I have read it somewhere ..

Does anyone else have any experience in using this product.
Thank's.

I've used it successfully. Did a good job here.
It seems odd if you are still seeing significant drop after the 4th treatment. How confident are you in identifying varroa? Other small dark blobs on the inspection board can be easily mistaken.

 

[Millet]

I've used it successfully. Did a good job here.
It seems odd if you are still seeing significant drop after the 4th treatment. How confident are you in identifying varroa? Other small dark blobs on the inspection board can be easily mistaken.

I'm 100% confident John at identifying varroa and so is my lady friend who examines the inspection board with a magnifying glass.. if I had a macro lens I would take a picture for you.. the varroa are around 1.5mm and oval in shape with a dark red shiny carapace. I will just treat them with the last strip of apilfe var that I have left and see what happen's..
Thank's Steve.

 

[Erichalfbee]

the varroa are around 1.5mm and oval in shape with a dark red shiny carapace.

I always think they look like little chocolate buttons. Horrible when they start scuttling across the inspection board

 

[Millet]

They remind me of little horse shoe crab's Eric.. the ones that are dropping are dead but prior to treatment they did move about..

 

[BeeJayBee]

y.. my 4 treatment's are done and I still have mite's dropping..

Dead mites will continue to drop through the omf after treatment finishes because they often fall into empty cells, which are later cleaned out by the bees.

I don't know where I have read they can become used to the treatment but I have read it somewhere ..

To paraphrase JBM, there is no evidence of varroa becoming resistant to thymol.

You could be thinking of the well-documented resistance to the pyrethroids in Apistan (tau-fluvalinate) and Bayvarol (Flumethrin). There is more information on the NBU site www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=193 and also on Dave Cushman's site http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/apistan_resistance_test.html

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Or are you confusing Apilife-var with apivar which has got amitraz as it's active ingredient? if so, why are you using it?

 

[Madge]

Or are you confusing Apilife-var with apivar which has got amitraz as it's active ingredient? if so, why are you using it?

Why not? Don't you like apivar for some reason?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Why not? Don't you like apivar for some reason?

OP mentioned that continued use may cause resistance to the treatment - this isn't the case with Apilife Var, so just checking that the other stuff was not being used.

Anyway, why use it? I'm of the opinion that we should try and avoid (synthetic)chemical packed medicines as much as possible - same as with apistan which is packed with pyrethroids.
Anecdotal I know, but in our local BKA meeting last week it transpired that a former member who kept bees in the eighties and nineties has been diagnosed with leukemia - he is convinced that exposure to pyrethroids in the first varroacides in the nineties may well be a contributing factor. You only have to look at the hard evidence of the health problems caused to farmers using pyrethroid sheep dips in the past to see there may be something in this.

 

[Millet]

Or are you confusing Apilife-var with apivar which has got amitraz as it's active ingredient? if so, why are you using it?

Nope.. i'm 100% using Apilife Var give me some credit I can read a little bit.. lol.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Nope.. i'm 100% using Apilife Var give me some credit I can read a little bit.. lol.

So in that case - don't worry about resistance buildup, wherever yu read it, doesn't happen

 

[Obee1]

Nope.. i'm 100% using Apilife Var give me some credit I can read a little bit.. lol.

So far -
You can't read instructions
You can't identify varroa mite
You have mistakenly used a different product

wonder what you will be accused of next - are you sure you have honey bees not bumbles?

 

[Millet]

So far I can read instructions
I can 100% identify Varroa and I have definitely not mistakenly used a different product..

So.. so far read through the thread again and stick that in your pipe and smoke it..

 

[Erichalfbee]

So far I can read instructions
I can 100% identify Varroa and I have definitely not mistakenly used a different product..

So.. so far read through the thread again and stick that in your pipe and smoke it..

Oh dear. I think obee was making a joke

 

[Millet]

Sorry if I miss read the reply.. . but still stick that in your pipe and smoke it.. lol

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Oh dear. I think obee was making a joke

or rather made veiled criticisms of others who tried to help without reading the thread properly and understanding why people asked the questions they did.

 

[Obee1]

or rather made veiled criticisms of others who tried to help without reading the thread properly and understanding why people asked the questions they did.

Chill guys it was a joke. I was rather astounded how many insults were made! Now I wish I hadn't bothered.