Apiguard

[bjosephd]

What would happen if I treated with apiguard now?

(I know oxalic sublimation would be best etc… and I am looking into a local who may be able to help… but at the moment I have pack of apiguard, so please not a discussion about various methods)

Pure and simple… apiguard better than nothing…? autumn treatment was missed.

I'm mostly nervous of two things… firstly that it'll put the queen off lay, and secondly that when they get grumpy about the initial smell an potentiallyd pile out the front for fresh air, the forecast here is rain rain rain, and they could get drenched and drowned.

Thoughts?

repeat… this is a question about using apiguard now… NOT an invite to tell me to use oxalic sublimation… I'm looking into it, but for now…

cheers..BJD

 

[Fraise]

Why are you thinking of using Apiguard now?
Do you have very high varroa drop?

Looking at the local weather forecast for this week I will not be opening any hives.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Pure and simple… apiguard better than nothing…?

Yes.

 

[snelgrove]

Unless there heavily infested wait and treat with maqs when there is half a dozen frames of brood at least.

 

[MuswellMetro]

oxalic sublimation only kills the varroa on the bees not the 80% of the varroa in the brood, so is not a good choice when you have brood

from the manufacturers of apiguard web site

A: Apiguard can be used in springtime, if necessary, provided the daily temperature is high enough. However, it is not the best time to apply the product. Thymol, which is the active ingredient in Apiguard, can sometimes make the queen stop egg laying for a short period and that is not what is needed in early spring – the colony needs to be growing. If the mite infestation is high in spring then it is safer to use Apiguard rather than let the mites reproduce further but treatment is otherwise best left until the late summerr

 

[jeff33]

Unless there heavily infested wait and treat with maqs when there is half a dozen frames of brood at least.

Would you put a QE above the floor to avoid the queen absconding?

 

[snelgrove]

Would you put a QE above the floor to avoid the queen absconding?

Only problem I have had is using it on weak colonies , lost a couple of queen is such cases, the bees don't like it, I don't either, but it's and excellent way of dealing with an infested colony.

 

[Millet]

Can you not just gas them with oxalic every 5 days 3 or 4 times, you wont have to worry about loosing the queen that way.

 

[bjosephd]

Can you not just gas them with oxalic every 5 days 3 or 4 times, you wont have to worry about loosing the queen that way.

Indeed. Don't have that facility though at the mo. See OP.

 

[bjosephd]

More DWV crawlers out front than I'd like to see is the main issue.

 

[Millet]

Indeed. Don't have that facility though at the mo. See OP.

Well get the gear, its a dirt cheap method once you have paid around 60 quid for the gassing tool, its a no brainier really, if i was near you could use mine for a charge of 2 pence lol, is there no one local to you that could help.

 

[bjosephd]

I'm looking in to it. But...

What would happen if I treated with apiguard now?

(I know oxalic sublimation would be best etc… and I am looking into a local who may be able to help… but at the moment I have pack of apiguard, so please not a discussion about various methods)

Pure and simple… apiguard better than nothing…?

repeat… this is a question about using apiguard now… NOT an invite to tell me to use oxalic sublimation… I'm looking into it, but for now…

 

[Millet]

I'm looking in to it. But...

Ok crack on, i used a thymol product last august which give me bits of dead brood on the inspection board, i would hate to kill them when they are just starting to build up after winter.

 

[mjt68]

What's the mite count? Manufacturer suggests daily temperature needs to be above 15C, which is borderline at the moment. Any break in laying as they build up might set them back. I know I said in another thread just now that we need to be vigilant and not complacent about Varroa but if they were my bees I'd only treat now if absolutely necessary. Just a few weeks more build up will make a difference to the colony and the weather will warm up sufficiently for treatment to be more successful. Of course, by then you might have supers so may need to use MAQS or similar.

Where the hell is hopguard up to?

 

[mbc]

Go for it.
Some commercial beekeepers give their bees a spring dose of thymol as a matter of course, I've used it myself and believe it mucks up the breeding of the varroa far more than that of the bees, even at quite cold temperatures.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Would you put a QE above the floor to avoid the queen absconding?

Thgat's a new one - what makes you think a queen woud 'abscond' in any situation?

 

[jeff33]

Thgat's a new one - what makes you think a queen woud 'abscond' in any situation?

There has been quite a few queen absconding' with MAQs. So you can perhaps get away with it towards the end of May but I wouldn't like risking to lose a queen now. Supersedure cells are also common so could the bees see her majesty out once they know replacement is on its way?

I need to treat 1 of my hive asap and cant bring myself to use MAQs just in case so it will stay in the cabinet....I have ordered a vaporiser.

 

[bjosephd]

I will not be using MAQs… I haven't read much that makes me want to use it… seems pretty brutal and a big gamble… at any time of year

 

[bjosephd]

Go for it.
Some commercial beekeepers give their bees a spring dose of thymol as a matter of course, I've used it myself and believe it mucks up the breeding of the varroa far more than that of the bees, even at quite cold temperatures.

Thanks MBC… put a tray in late this afternoon… it's a Langstroth box that seems to have bees pretty much on all seems… I wonder if swift massive spring growth has got varroa going. I was impressed at the number of bees in the box when I briefly opened it up to slip the apiguard in. It'll be interesting to see what the drop is over the next couple of days.