Apivar

[MuswellMetro]

has anyone a source of APIVAR either signed off by a VET as its now semi legal or know how do you buy it in/from france

 

[jcaturra]

If you go onto www.aberdeenbeekeepers.com and go onto the newsletter page, you will see a bit on apivar!!! It gives you the details of a vet Robert Thurlow that is licensed to prescribe it!!!! He is based in Dumfries!!!

 

[Brosville]

if you're going to use the stuff, I take it you'll be destroying the honey as being potentially dangerous?

http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/MSDS_Hazcom/ipcsneng/neng0098.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/1624413-amitraz-toxicity-in-cats-symptoms-and-treatments

 

[MJBee]

MM,
I'll check with my vet and pm you
Mike

 

[MuswellMetro]

if you're going to use the stuff, I take it you'll be destroying the honey as being potentially dangerous?

http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/MSDS_Hazcom/ipcsneng/neng0098.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/1624413-amitraz-toxicity-in-cats-symptoms-and-treatments

thanks for that

well, did not know, what the active ingrediant was, it was suggested as safe by a fellow beek, so don't worry, i will not be using it, i dont like nerve gas derivative on my porridge.

it was suggested because we apppear to be getting varroa at one out apiarys that appear to be more tolerant of thymol ( not mine at present) and some Beeks have used apivar having bought it from france

i put the name to my daughter who is studying organic chemistry at bristol uni and she said there is also evidence that the long term use by australain farmers using it as a tic sheep dip is thought to produce progestrone and male boobs

 

[sherwood]

Even water is considered dangerous in large quantities ie. every chemical or compound thereof can be considered dangerous. And whats more having used Apivar for 3 years let me tell you it works and as you apply it in Sept/October how is it going to effect your honey.
It is approoved throughout the EU and in Canada now, the UK is the only exception and can I point out that that there is still no approoval for Apivar in the UK there is however approval for Api Life Var and this is not the same.

 

[Chris B]

Nasty stuff I'm sure.
But you will notice in the record card link it also states solubility in water 0% so it can't actually dissolve into your honey. And it also degrades very quickly. So it's the beekeeper handling strips that needs to take care. I don't think you'll find any instance of Amitraz turning up in honey though.

 

[BKF Admin]

it was suggested because we apppear to be getting varroa at one out apiarys that appear to be more tolerant of thymol ( not mine at present)

Regards Thymol tolerance:
It may be down to temperature and % used in application rather than the mites becoming tolerant.

As I understand it Thymol works by six seperate modes of action and I would be very surprised if the mites had managed to tolerate all six.

Can you find out:
When was the Thymol applied ?
What % was used ?
What was the temperature ?
How was it made up ?

 

[johna]

Robert THURLOW CHARGES £25.00 for APIVAR this treats 5 hives.You can download a spec sheet for Apivar from the website in France.It is obtainable in English and contains a very good study of the life history of VARROA DESTRUCTOR as well as the info on how to treat colonies.It is safe to use both in the spring and autumn.It is left on the hive for more than the 4 weeks recommended for Apistan and Bayvarol so exceeds the breeding cycle of the miteafter the brood has emerged together with the adult mites.The leaflet states that it is safe to use even when honey is present,having no effect on the honey.I cannot verify this but lots of useful information is available on overseas sites(Canada ,France etc. etc.) I have used it for the first time in 2009 and will report back with my experiances later.

 

[johna]

Api Life Var is a thymol based product and is completely different from Apivar which contains a vetinary pesticide.

 

[Finman]

Here is Aivar 20 hives test in Iran
http://www.apiservices.com/articles/us/efficacy_of_bayvarol.pdf

Conclusion
The tests we carried out in Ghazvin in Iran against Varroa destructor show a good
effectiveness, of Apivar® 96.68 %, for Bayvarol® 96.59%.for CheckMite+® 98.55 %
With Apivar® or Bayvarol® or CheckMite+® strips, a single treatment seems to be
sufficient to reduce significantly the impact of varroa on the colonies for a year. Varroa
destructor is a serious disease. It is necessary to learn how to live with it. This can be
done:
• By preserving only strong colonies in the apiaries.
• By systematically changing the queens every two years, by developing queens
selected for resistance to the diseases
• Also changing treatment with pyrethroids, (Apistan®, Bayvarol®) also Apivar®
every 5 years.
But pyrethroids, (Apistan®, Bayvarol®) and Apivar, CheckMite+® have a tendency to be
resistant after several years of treatment. When the colonies are strong and well populated
and have one good treatment a year against Varroa destructor with an acaricide, this has
good efficacy (+ 95 %) and does not make them perish.

 

[PW24]

apivar use

I used Apivar for the first time last autumn and found it successful, all treated hives (6 x Langstroth) survived the winter. Quite a few local bee-keepers have changed over to it with similar results and we plan to use it again. Supply via Mr Thutlow, service very good and price competitive.

 

[Brosville]

how utterly disgusting!

(First post praising a very dubious and dangerous product, and naming the person "back dooring" the stuff in - I smell spam!)

 

[Chris Luck]

I used Apivar for the first time last autumn and found it successful, all treated hives (6 x Langstroth) survived the winter. Quite a few local bee-keepers have changed over to it with similar results and we plan to use it again. Supply via Mr Thutlow, service very good and price competitive.

I use nothing and never do and all my colonies survive as well, and no, I don't live in a so called "varroa free pocket" as has been previously suggested.

Chris

 

[Stiffy]

has anyone a source of APIVAR either signed off by a VET as its now semi legal or know how do you buy it in/from france

Hmmm Muswell, didnt we PM this last October?

It is legal provided you get it from a vet or licensed supplier.
May be wrong but I understand the main reason it is not widely available in this country is because of demand and costs of licensing.

I have one out-apiary that really suffered from mites end of last year, each hive still dropping 100's of mites a day after 8+ weeks of thymol treatment. I then used this wicked stuff as Bros would call it to treat.
Cleared most of the mites from colonies on this site and they went through winter well, no losses. Mite count beginning April, 5 a week.

Will be using again this autumn on all hives and then Thymol 2012 as recommended by vet.
Cheers
S

 

[Stiffy]

how utterly disgusting!

(First post praising a very dubious and dangerous product, and naming the person "back dooring" the stuff in - I smell spam!)

Bxxxxcks
The 'stuff' is not back doored at all!
S

 

[Brosville]

Did you actually read the links I posted earlier in the thread? The active ingredient, Amitraz is particularly nasty stuff, not cleared for general use, and I wouldn't put it anywhere near any living thing, and most particularly anything destined for consumption.
There are perfectly good, far safer treatments available, I think that using this muck is irresponsible in the extreme, and will bring beekeeping into disrepute - as for the lame "it worked" argument, so would a thermonuclear strike - doesn't make it desirable, sensible, or a wise choice...
As for "not back doored" is pure semantics - it is brought in using a bit of "gamesmanship" - it is not available through the usual sources for good reason...
I see it as part of the sad "arms race" amongst certain beekeepers to find ever more dangerous and toxic materials with which to dose their hapless colonies...

 

[Stiffy]

Did you actually read the links I posted earlier in the thread? The active ingredient, Amitraz is particularly nasty stuff, not cleared for general use, and I wouldn't put it anywhere near any living thing, and most particularly anything destined for consumption.
There are perfectly good, far safer treatments available, I think that using this muck is irresponsible in the extreme, and will bring beekeeping into disrepute - as for the lame "it worked" argument, so would a thermonuclear strike - doesn't make it desirable, sensible, or a wise choice...
As for "not back doored" is pure semantics - it is brought in using a bit of "gamesmanship" - it is not available through the usual sources for good reason...
I see it as part of the sad "arms race" amongst certain beekeepers to find ever more dangerous and toxic materials with which to dose their hapless colonies...

Yep read it !
Sorry its not formatted very well as is taken from Hansard.
From Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 27 November 2008
Follow-up to the evidence session on 5 November 2008: [Bee research]

The following measures have been put in place by the VMD to improve the availability of medicine for bees:

• allowed Apivar, a product authorised elsewhere in the EU to control varroosis to be imported and used in the UK under the VMD’s Special Import Scheme (SIC). We have also contacted the French Authorities to establish if a Mutual Recognition Procedure might be possible so that Apivar could be fully authorised in the UK;


• allowed substances such as oxalic acid, formic acid and lactic acid to be used in the UK to control varroosis although they are not authorised in the UK. Our reassurance on the safety of these products is that they are entered into Annex II of European Council Regulation 2377/90 laying down the Community procedure for the establishment of maximum residue limits of veterinary medicinal products in foodstuffs of animal origin and they are tolerated in other member states
.
We have also advised BBKA on how to approach manufacturers to get these products authorised in the UK;


Semantics or just a government department attempting to try and help beekeepers?

 

[Brosville]

"or just a government department attempting to try and help beekeepers" - more like a tame government allowing Big Pestco and it's apologists to get away with murder (as usual)

makes not a jot of difference to the fact it's a filthy chemical that really shouldn't be used - I note use of language - the referral to "medicines for bees" - a rather twee phrase much used by a past president of the BBKA (and few others), and we all know about the cosy relationship between the makers of toxins and that organisation (now firmly cemented with their bedfellows from the similarly tweely named "CPA" - more correctly, the poisoners' trade association)

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Given the fact that this Apivar is a controlled substance how does the vet legally dispense it without a consultation?
Surely it should either be properly controlled or openly available to all?
The current situation sounds like a loophole being expolited.