beevital hive clean

[eddyh]

Hi,has any of you used beevital hive clean,and if so how do you rate it.I am going to start using it up until december and then treat with oxalic acid.Appreciate any feedback,

 

[Cazza]

I have used Hiveclean for 3? seasons. It works well when I use it in Spring as part of my IPM.

I use it then (follow the instructions) and Apiguard in Autumn. Oxalic rarely required in Winter. Not used it for my Autumn treatment.
Cazza

 

[Luminos]

Perhaps not quite the same product, but, I used Varroa Gard on my first colony with a view to doing OA in winter 2011.
They never made it as far as the OA, having suffered with an overload of varroa mite and the accompanying diseases before I got the chance to do the OA treatment.

Personally I would not omit Apiguard or something similar.

 

[MuswellMetro]

In June i inspected a large allotment apiary with our SBI ( in an effect to convince the beekeepers attend a Fera lecture on EFB sposored by our BKA~we have the highest incident of EFB in SE England over the last 15 years

sixteen hives in total, 7 had been only treated with hive clean for four years durng spring and summer and a heavy 5ml per seam of hive clean in December, another eight had apiguard in august and Oxalic Dihydrate in sugar solution in December,

The hiveclean hive had by Drone culling assement >1000~ mites and DWV with almost hairless over groomed bees , the Apiquard hives <200~ and a minor patches of DWV,

One hive treated by homeopaphy for two years were all but dead from DWV and the SBI advised they should be sealed at night and killed ( advice not taken and they died out late july)

ok different bees, diiferent brood cycles, re infestation lots of variants, but I have my reservations based on what i saw

 

[Cazza]

ok different bees, diiferent brood cycles, re infestation lots of variants, but would i use it, No

I think it has a use as part of an IPM but I would not rely on it wholly as per your example.

In the same way that you wouldn't just use Oxalic or Apiguard.

Cazza

 

[MuswellMetro]

I think it has a use as part of an IPM but I would not rely on it wholly as per your example.

In the same way that you wouldn't just use Oxalic or Apiguard.

Cazza

The PDF on its use promotes it as a treament on its own

 

[masterBK]

If varroa guard or Beevital hiveclean were any good surely they would have been thoroughly scientifically tested by now and shown to be effective.They have not and so should be regarded as"snake oils" until proved otherwise.

 

[Cazza]

If varroa guard or Beevital hiveclean were any good surely they would have been thoroughly scientifically tested by now and shown to be effective.They have not and so should be regarded as"snake oils" until proved otherwise.

I thought that Finman had already directed us to a study showing 95% mortality rates for Hiveclean? Perhaps I imagined it in my haste to use "snake oil"?
Cazza

 

[mbc]

I thought that Finman had already directed us to a study showing 95% mortality rates for Hiveclean? Perhaps I imagined it in my haste to use "snake oil"?
Cazza

I expect the bees will have at least 95% mortality over a period of a couple of years if only hiveclean is used to tickle them.

 

[Cazza]

I expect the bees will have at least 95% mortality over a period of a couple of years if only hiveclean is used to tickle them.

You may very well be right but that is not how I use it. It's part of my IPM. It certainly brings down the mites when trickled, a little bit more than a "tickle."

Cazza

 

[mbc]

My understanding was that hiveclean is merely extremely expensive, very weak oxalic solution. If you have deep enough pockets, time to spare and it makes you feel better then why not ? Otherwise I would stick to using stuff which actually works.

 

[Cazza]

My understanding was that hiveclean is merely extremely expensive, very weak oxalic solution. If you have deep enough pockets, time to spare and it makes you feel better then why not ? Otherwise I would stick to using stuff which actually works.

Have you tried it? I suspect not.
I can afford it, though a bottle last so for 2 seasons which makes it pretty cheap.
It takes no time.
It makes me feel better in that I have low varroa loads and healthy bees and I rarely have to resort to unpleasant oxalic acid in December.
You do what you do and I'll do what I do and then we are both happy.
Cazza

 

[mbc]

Have you tried it? I suspect not.
I can afford it, though a bottle last so for 2 seasons which makes it pretty cheap.
It takes no time.
It makes me feel better in that I have low varroa loads and healthy bees and I rarely have to resort to unpleasant oxalic acid in December.
You do what you do and I'll do what I do and then we are both happy.
Cazza

I have tried it and looked closely at the results.
It is only expensive relative to what it is, still affordable but why pay over the odds for anything ?
It does take time and it also involves introducing foreign substances into the hive.
I have no problem whatsoever if you want to continue using the stuff, but reserve the right to smugly think you are delusional to think its anything more than a "tickle".
Seriously though, congrats on the low varroa counts and happy beekeeping

 

[itma]

... I rarely have to resort to unpleasant oxalic acid in December.
You do what you do and I'll do what I do and then we are both happy.
Cazza

Two things there.
Seems you do sometimes feel you have to "resort" to Oxalic.
And as a dilute solution, Oxalic isn't particularly "unpleasant". My bees really don't seem to mind the trickling. And no question, it is effective against the mite.


As long as, somehow, we are all keeping the mites down, we can all be happy.
/ at least "happy" about our varroa control, it might take more than that for some!

 

[eddyh]

Thanks for the feedback even the negative stuff,i will carry on using the hive clean as it does seem to be working judging by the mite drop on the board after using.And as cazza said its not that expensive seeing how far a bottle goes,and of course if its working!

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thanks for the feedback even the negative stuff,i will carry on using the hive clean as it does seem to be working judging by the mite drop on the board after using.And as cazza said its not that expensive seeing how far a bottle goes,and of course if its working!

Well done.

 

[Cazza]

Seems you do sometimes feel you have to "resort" to Oxalic.
QUOTE]

I have "resorted" to it because I am weak and feeble minded and bent under "peer" pressure as in "every one else does it so I better had." Not as in "oh shi*t" I have a massive varroa load, my IPM is not working." I try to plough my own furrow but sometimes listen to others too much.

Cazza

 

[bobandbec]

I use it in the early Spring before any flow. It makes me feel better, I'm not sure about the bees? Also use autumn Apiguard and mid-winter oxalic. My routine for the last 5 years and bees seem to do well for me.
No losses over that time due to varroa or effects of varroa (average of 30 colonies over that period).
Can't personally see any harm in using it. Whether varroa control would have been just as effective without it I don't know.
Peter

 

[Skyhook]

Have you tried it? I suspect not.
I can afford it, though a bottle last so for 2 seasons which makes it pretty cheap.
It takes no time.
It makes me feel better in that I have low varroa loads and healthy bees and I rarely have to resort to unpleasant oxalic acid in December.
You do what you do and I'll do what I do and then we are both happy.
Cazza

No, you apply oxalic acid throughout the season.


By the way, you're only supposed to keep it for 6 months after opening.


.

 

[domino]

In June i inspected a large allotment apiary with our SBI ( in an effect to convince the beekeepers attend a Fera lecture on EFB sposored by our BKA~we have the highest incident of EFB in SE England over the last 15 years

sixteen hives in total, 7 had been only treated with hive clean for four years durng spring and summer and a heavy 5ml per seam of hive clean in December, another eight had apiguard in august and Oxalic Dihydrate in sugar solution in December,

The hiveclean hive had by Drone culling assement >1000~ mites and DWV with almost hairless over groomed bees , the Apiquard hives <200~ and a minor patches of DWV,

One hive treated by homeopaphy for two years were all but dead from DWV and the SBI advised they should be sealed at night and killed ( advice not taken and they died out late july)

ok different bees, diiferent brood cycles, re infestation lots of variants, but I have my reservations based on what i saw

Thanks for posting this, it's very useful for me because I'm planning what treatments to use.