Bees not clearing apiguard

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Beezy

House Bee
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Hi,

I put my first treatment of apiguard on Sunday over a week ago, but when I checked their progress over a week later it looks like they've only cleared about a third of the treatment. The apiguard site says to scrape the remaining gel onto a small bit of cardboard if they haven't cleaned it all up by the end of the 2 weeks - but that suggests that they should have cleared most of it, not under half?

Thanks
 
I have never found the bees 'cleared' it- but the fumes from it and their walking through it still did the trick. Just remove this sachet and use the second on as instructed.
 
Don't remove it. Follow the instructions on the packet and ADD the second tray.

Meg
 
Last year my colonies failed to clear it so I did the same as Heather.

I have never found the bees 'cleared' it- but the fumes from it and their walking through it still did the trick. Just remove this sachet and use the second on as instructed.
 
Apiguard works by evaporating. If it's not evaporating over two weeks, your hive is too cold or airflow is restricted..

I use it inside a TBH and my largest colony - some 22 bars - are warm enough to evaporate the first one in 9 days. So I gave them another..

The mite drop before treatment was 5-6 /day consistently over three months. After treatment it was 200-300 /day and now is 60 odd a day,,, mainly smaller mites now presumably from hatching brood..

The only bee I have seen actually touching the mix is a dead bee.. The rest hate the smell and fan like mad - all the way to the entrance..
 
The only problem with not sticking to the 2 week schedule is that one is ignoring the life cycle of larval brood on which the mites live initially. Best not to take too many liberties as it reduces the effectiveness of the treatment if the 4 week treatment period is curtailed.

Apiguard works by evaporating. If it's not evaporating over two weeks, your hive is too cold or airflow is restricted..

I use it inside a TBH and my largest colony - some 22 bars - are warm enough to evaporate the first one in 9 days. So I gave them another..

The mite drop before treatment was 5-6 /day consistently over three months. After treatment it was 200-300 /day and now is 60 odd a day,,, mainly smaller mites now presumably from hatching brood..

The only bee I have seen actually touching the mix is a dead bee.. The rest hate the smell and fan like mad - all the way to the entrance..
 
Stick to the instructions. First dose on for 2 weeks. Any left at the end of the two weeks spread over the top of the brood frames. Put the second dose on. This can be left indefinitely. I remove the tray if gel gone after 2 weeks or otherwise I remove when the weather is too cold for it to work effectively. If there is some gel left at this point I again smear over the top of the brood frames.

I use the cards supplied with the bigger tubs of Apiguard. Very often not only do the bees spread the gel throughout the hive but they completely chew up and remove the card as well. I have very often seen the bees actively removing the gel.

Peter
 
Some confusion here! Meg says follow the instructions on the packet and add the next sachet.

Vita website says: replace with a second tray after two weeks.

If Meg has actually read the instructions and that post is accurate, it wuld seem that even Vita can't get their act together.

Can anyone confirm the packet instructions? I just copied and pasted from the vita website (OK, changed the case of one letter).

I don't think I have any around (don't use it now).

Regards, RAB
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll go with instructions that Bob&Bec says as this is my first time, so don't want to alter things too much.

The only question is: if there's some left at end of 2 wks (which I reckon there will be) and I smear it over top of frames, if I then add second tray will I effectively be overdosing them with too much at one time?
 
Some confusion here! Meg says follow the instructions on the packet and add the next sachet.

Vita website says: replace with a second tray after two weeks.

I think Vita may have changed their guidance. See Dave Cushmans site where he has a copy of Vita's instructions from the box which clearly state... After two weeks place a new tray beside the old one

Does anyone have instructions from the current box to compare?
 
It's ok, we're still uncooked too. Are you placing it on the OMF and closing up, or on a gap in the top bars?

I place on a small piece of wood resting between the walls just above the OMF..

BioBees don't like me much... I think. I feed bees when they are starving. It would be natural to let them die... :)

You cannot dust beeed in a TBH with sugar easily...
 
Does anyone have instructions from the current box to compare?

I copied and pasted (previous post) from the Vita site today. Obviously not from the box, but direct from the manufacturer, all the same.

RAB
 
I place on a small piece of wood resting between the walls just above the OMF..

BioBees don't like me much... I think. I feed bees when they are starving. It would be natural to let them die... :)

You cannot dust beeed in a TBH with sugar easily...

Makes sense. We've still got conversion bars in two of the TBH and put the Pura mix on greaseproof on top but bottom makes more sense.

We're feeding all our hives at the minute. Very sharp dearth whilst we were away and one hive has lost its queen so last ditch before combining (as in leave some drones around please...).

Dusting with a litre flat topped polythene bottle with 2mm drilled holes and a couple of layers of nylon tights material underneath works great. Simplest way is a two-man inspection and as each frame goes back one holds it at maybe 15 degrees to vertical (not too hot a day!).
 
Does anyone have instructions from the current box to compare?

I haven't got it in front of me, but read it last week. Check after 10 days. If tray is empty, replace with 2nd tray. If not, leave until 14 days, then replace whether it's empty or not.
 
I have one here.
Instruction ref. 4121A/08

"After 2 weeks replace the first tray with a new one. Leave the product in the colony until the tray is empty. Remove the product when installing supers on the colony"
 
Some confusion here! Meg says follow the instructions on the packet and add the next sachet.

Regards, RAB

I was at a presentation given by Vita at the Ulster Beekeepers' conference some years ago.

The label says "replace" and still does because that's the way the testing was done to get the licence to have it used.

It would cost a fortune to redo the test to allow the wording to be altered to 'add' but they are now recommending that the second tray be added.

Ruary
 

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