Apistan

[davidharradine]

Despite going into winter with a low mite drop, and treating with oxalic acid in January, I had a mite drop of around 9 per day earlier this month, so I decided to treat with Apistan.

Just wanted to check that I'd got the dosage right: my bees are on a double brood set up, so I put in 4 strips, 2 in each box.

I don't want to overdose them...

Also, I put the insert tray back under the mesh floor so I can do a drop count after a few days. If I leave it in for longer will it increase the efficacy, like it does with thymol treatments?

Thanks (again)
David

 

[Tom Bick]

Hi David although the Apistan strips may have an effect on the Varroa the fact is that most have built up a resistance to it and it is generally not used any more. You may get a decent mite drop but perhaps a good percentage of the mites will be unaffected.

Try running your mite drop through the BeeBase Varroa Calculator and see what they recommend
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/public/BeeDiseases/varroaCalculator.cfm