Apiguard timing

[angeJ]

I was planning to start Apiguard treatment this weekend and follow up feeding them towards the end of the month, but have just realised that I'll be unable to replace the first tray with the second until a few days (3/4) after the advised two weeks. Would it therefore be better to wait till half way through September? or till Spring or go ahead anyway? Day temperature is supposed to be around 15 Celsius for effective treatment. Any advice much appreciated thanks.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I'm not treating till mid September. If you want to crack on I wouldn't have thought 3 days would make much difference.
Are you aware of what your mite load might be BTW?
You need healthy winter bees. They will be being raised September onwards. That means largely varroa free. So if there are significant numbers you mustn't leave till spring.

 

[Arfermo]

I'm not treating till mid September.

Ditto due to lousy summer and supersedures not giving queens good laying periods in some instances. Oxalic sublimation by Varrox under the OMF in Dec/Jan as usual.

 

[itma]

The advice from the (South East) Regional Bee Inspector is that the 1st of August is the right time to apply Apiguard!

He believes that the principal reason for some people getting poor results with it, is that they left it too late, and the weather turned cold before the treatment finished, rendering the treatment ineffective.

I would argue that date is overly pessimistic for the far South (but, unlike me, you are in Cheshire) and makes no allowance for the colony warming (and Apiguard-season-extending) powers of insulation and particularly poly hives.

But it does also depend on how bad your varroa problem might be. The less bad it is, the less need for the full two sealed-brood cycles - you will get a dramatic varroa reduction even with three weeks of treatment (but 6 weeks is much better!)

 

[Arfermo]

I'm with Erichalfbee on the basis that, as the Apiguard tray(s) will under the CB but right above where the cluster will be, the convected warmth will do the job well enough, even if not perfectly. Now tell me I'm wrong!!!

 

[angeJ]

I'm not treating till mid September. If you want to crack on I wouldn't have thought 3 days would make much difference.
Are you aware of what your mite load might be BTW?
You need healthy winter bees. They will be being raised September onwards. That means largely varroa free. So if there are significant numbers you mustn't leave till spring.

Thanks. Unfortunately I'm not sure of the mite load. I've just 2 colonies one of which I only bought last week and haven't checked its load. The other one, my first hive I last checked in mid July but it was very low then. I think I'll just crack on.

 

[angeJ]

Thanks all. I hadn't considered the effect of colony warming, and had just been thinking in terms of Cheshire average temperature for these months. Last year I did it in September and it must have been successful as there was very little varroa in the colony up until recently.

 

[Finman]

The advice from the (South East) Regional Bee Inspector is that the 1st of August is the right time to apply Apiguard!

He believes that the principal reason for some people getting poor results with it, is that they left it too late, and the weather turned cold before the treatment .....

Apiguard-season-extending) powers of insulation and particularly poly hives better!)

First of August hives are foraging honey in Britain, and supers are on hives....at least in Finland.

 

[MuswellMetro]

First of August hives are foraging honey in Britain, and supers are on hives....at least in Finland.

in North london on the 18th july i took off all supers by clearing them down into an empty super of comb ( a few days earlier than normal years as the summer has been dry in the SE)

today i shook off the bees from those super to treat the hives for varrao.........i doubt on 12 hives that i had in total more that a two super frames of capped honey and a bit more than of unripe honey

 

[Arfermo]

today i shook off the bees from those super to treat the hives for varrao.........i doubt on 12 hives that i had in total more that a two super frames of capped honey and a bit more than of unripe honey

My crop from OSR was poor as I have ever known and even with supers still on I am not expecting very much more. I am deferring thymol treatment in the pious hope that by the time SWBO and I get back from a short break Sorrento on 12 Sept there will something more promising to extract. Not holding my breath!!! Rotten season all round.

 

[B3njy]

We've got a late flow going on in Berkshire and I'm hoping I can do a late harvest end of September. Can I skip Apiguard treatment and just go for oxylic acid in December do ya think?

 

[Erichalfbee]

How many mites do the colonies have?

 

[BeeJayBee]

We've got a late flow going on in Berkshire and I'm hoping I can do a late harvest end of September.

Keep a very careful eye on what they're taking in because ivy is thinking about flowering in this area, and it can spoil your crop. Also, with colony numbers falling, if you leave it until the end of September you're likely to go to your apiary and find your super frames have been emptied and the contents moved down into the brood box.

Unless (even if) you're near heather it's probably best to remove and/or harvest complete frames now and take any others as, and when, they are filled - if you can.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Keep a very careful eye on what they're taking in because ivy is thinking about flowering in this area,

Where?

 

[BeeJayBee]

Where?

Growing through a hedge in our garden. Still fairly tight buds, but certainly on the way to opening.