Apiguard treatment

[Nick Lang]

Since the season seems to be drawing to a close I was thinking about varroa treatment.
I was going to use apiguard now and do an oxi vape later in the year.....I only have two hives atm....one is a split from this year and is just a brood box.....the other has a super still on, it has about 7 full frames of unsealed stores...was planning on leaving the super on over winter.

With the hive with the super do I put an eke above the brood box, with the QE and the super above the eke, then put the apiguard there directly on top of the frames....or does the apiguard go on top of the honey super right at the top of the hive?
Ta muchly

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

With the hive with the super do I put an eke above the brood box, with the QE and the super above the eke, then put the apiguard there directly on top of the frames....or does the apiguard go on top of the honey super right at the top of the hive?

are you going to go permanently brood and a half? if so, just put the apiguard on top. If not, take the super off and replace after treatment.

 

[Nick Lang]

are you going to go permanently brood and a half? if so, just put the apiguard on top. If not, take the super off and replace after treatment.

Thanks bud..... wasn't going to do brood and a half as the super has been above the QE...so figured better to just leave as stores for the winter.... I'll whip it off just before I treat.
Ta

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

to be honest, I would wait until the honey is ripe then extract it. Plenty of time to get the Apiguard on.

 

[Nick Lang]

You reckon they would winter better with less space, just the brood box on there?

Also.... it's all uncapped at the moment....should I leave them to cap it or get the refractometer on it....when do you think I should remove the super?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You reckon they would winter better with less space, just the brood box on there?

they will winter well enough - just feed them properly next month

Also.... it's all uncapped at the moment....should I leave them to cap it or get the refractometer on it.

check it with a refractometer to see what the water content is like, if under 18% take it off straight away, if not leave it on for a bit longer

.when do you think I should remove the super?

If not ripe, give it a couple more weeks

 

[Nick Lang]

Thank you!!!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Just a reminder that anything under 20% water content is OK, but I wouldn't extract anything under 19%, 18% is safer, I extracted a load of late Balsam honey once at an out apiary I'd put in someone's garden (at their request), it was a bit over 20% so not sellable and there was only about 20 jars anyway, I gave it to them to use as they saw fit - it was fine and ended up as Christmas gifts for the family.

 

[Lizbee]

I too am about to embark on apiguard, and have pretty much decided to leave the bees just in the brood box and feed as they need it. Most advice is to leave a super on, but I worry they won't move to find the stores, they will have more space to heat, and I also have the problem of taking the super off for apiguard, storing it safe from wax moth and putting it back afterwards.
My only experience is last year, when the bees just in brood box were fine and I lost the hive with the super on (to be fair, I don't think they starved so it might have been something else)

 

[Sutty]

If you leave a super on over winter most people advise removing the QE so that the queen doesn't get stuck in the brood box if/when the cluster moves up into the super. It does mean the super is likely to get brooded in which concerns some people.
I left a super on one hive by mistake last year and they were fine, but they had lots of stores. I was only leaving supers on as I didn't have an extractor available at the time.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you leave a super on over winter most people advise removing the QE so that the queen doesn't get stuck in the brood box if/when the cluster moves up into the super.

I think realistically it would be the cluster unwilling to leave the queen rather - therefore the whole lot starving within inches of a food supply. I know of someone who has experienced it, an experienced and respected beekeeper who just 'forgot' to remove it when distracted.

 

[Redcap]

I too am about to embark on apiguard, and have pretty much decided to leave the bees just in the brood box and feed as they need it. Most advice is to leave a super on, but I worry they won't move to find the stores, they will have more space to heat, and I also have the problem of taking the super off for apiguard, storing it safe from wax moth and putting it back afterwards.
My only experience is last year, when the bees just in brood box were fine and I lost the hive with the super on (to be fair, I don't think they starved so it might have been something else)

You could also put the super under the BB; the bees will move the honey upward into the brood frames in prep for winter.

 

[BernardBlack]

So you can take a super off, treat hive with apiguard, then put it back on?

Any tips on storing?

Would the super frames be ok during storage even if the stores aren’t sealed?

 

[thorn]

It's my understanding that if you use Apiguard in the brood box, and the following season you put the brood box on top when doing a demaree, you shouldn't then take the honey that the bees store in that box as it empties of brood.
Am I correct in that?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's my understanding that if you use Apiguard in the brood box, and the following season you put the brood box on top when doing a demaree, you shouldn't then take the honey that the bees store in that box as it empties of brood.
Am I correct in that?

I'm not sure whether it actually says that in the manufacturer's notes or whether it's just some knowitall has decided to interpret it that way.
Just read the FAQ's on their website - makes very interesting reading.
They say that although it's preferable to remove supers when treating,even if you leave supers on it is 'very unlikely' the Apiguard would taint the honey, even if, it implies, the cells aren't capped.

Apiguard may taint the brood wax, and low traces may reach the wax of the supers

Another interesting snippet is the piece about feeding whilst treating - contrary to the belief that feeding would distract the bees from clearing the Apiguard, they actually say that feeding may help!

Trials suggest that feeding with a protein patty during Apiguard treatment encourages the bees up to the gel and increases their cleaning activities, improving the treatment efficacy. Using a liquid feed, there may still be some benefit because the colony becomes more active and that probably encourages the increased spread of Apiguard throughout the hive.

 

[Nick Lang]

You could also put the super under the BB; the bees will move the honey upward into the brood frames in prep for winter.

That seems like creating a lot of work for the hive???

 

[Erichalfbee]

That seems like creating a lot of work for the hive???

It's actually OK if the frames are uncapped and you take the shallow away. I've done that when putting it on top over a crown board doesn't work. I used to leave the box there all winter but invariably lost outer frames to mould so I now take it away after two or three days

 

[Nick Lang]

So I just did a quick inspection.....the hive had a first dose of 50g apiguard two weeks ago.....then a second tray two days ago.....I just went in to do a quick inspection .....I know apiguard puts the queen off laying....but I was shocked to see I have some capped brood, but pretty much nothing else. The queen is there I saw her marching around.

Is it normal for a queen to go off laying completely?

 

[Sutty]

So I just did a quick inspection.....the hive had a first dose of 50g apiguard two weeks ago.....then a second tray two days ago.....I just went in to do a quick inspection .....I know apiguard puts the queen off laying....but I was shocked to see I have some capped brood, but pretty much nothing else. The queen is there I saw her marching around.

Is it normal for a queen to go off laying completely?

I don't know but it strikes me that if she stops for long enough it gives a great opportunity to add a brood-free OA treatment on top!

 

[Nick Lang]

I could do that....I literally had an oxalic acid "wand" arrive yesterday in the post. I have the crystals here too.

I only have two colonies ...the original colony had a hell of a lot of varroa drop after the first apiguard treatment....the other which was a split I made this summer has almost nothing drop.....very low numbers.