Maqs

[Tranquilwaters]

Hi, anyone thinking of using MAQS this year for varroa treatment ?

 

[waverider]

Nope. Rather someone else trial them first.

 

[itma]

Not for the sake of using it.

But it'd be nice if 5 of us at the association could get together and invest in a pack between us, so that it could be tried out (if firefighting was needed) by a few different individuals on one hive each - so we had a diversity of experience.

I see its role as purely for in-season firefighting, in the event that a problem arises at an inopportune time.
And for that, I don't fancy investing £50 or so, just in case lightning strikes me 5 times!

 

[scuttlefish]

Nope, doubt it'll be licensed here in Ireland in time to use it this season.

 

[Vramin]

Hello. I'm a new beek - started with 2 hives last summer. I'm intending to use MAQS. It sounds just the job - gets into sealed brood, and so only needs a short treatment period. I used Apiguard last September and my 2 queens stopped laying for the duration, and one hasn't started laying since, so any alternative is worth trying in my opinion.

A number of people in our group are going to club together to buy a tub.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Make sure you read instructions tho you need to add a extra super with frames for best results. Looks like it may have some nasty effects ie absounding.

That being said I will definately try it if its on sale at an association day don't fancy buying a full box yet. Homemade thymol was cheap but did put queen of laying, which ever you choose they will be drawbacks.

 

[Luminos]

Nope. Rather someone else trial them first.

Better the devil you know etc etc

 

[Hivemaker.]

Bit from the other threads, worth reading.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2636&page=7

And one of the threads from Beesource..2011

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?255914-MAQS-Checkbacks

 

[beeno]

Hi all,
I am afraid I am a bit of a laggard when it comes to new inventions. I wait for other people to trial them, if poss, and for the price to come down!

 

[Erichalfbee]

only needs a short treatment period.

I used Apiguard last September and my 2 queens stopped laying for the duration

Yes, interesting, that.
I used Apilife, one queen stopped laying and this "Spring" the hive is lost.
maqs is supposed to stop queen laying for a few days only (I suppose because it's such a short Tx) so you have time to do something about it.
There are reports of significant queen loss so you need spare queens.
There are pictures of scorched grass outside hives being treated....ouch!!
I, like some here in this thread, will wait to see how others find it.

 

[itma]

Bit from the other threads, worth reading.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2636&page=7

And one of the threads from Beesource..2011

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?255914-MAQS-Checkbacks

However, quite a lot of 'bad word-of-mouth' (repeated efficiently across the internet) may be "unfounded".

From Randy Oliver

Reports of excessive queen loss due to treatment appear to be largely unfounded, provided that the product is applied properly. Further communication with the affected beekeepers revealed that the natural queen loss rate of surrounding beekeepers during the same time period (but who hadn’t treated) was also unusually high. Here’s a follow-up email from a beekeeper who had earlier suspected major queen loss:

“I have now gone through all my treated colonies, and they are bouncing back pretty well, as forecast. The nurses obviously went some time without larva to feed as there is now a superabundance of pap in the cells, just like when cell starters go for days waiting for larvae to feed. Lost some queens, but not as bad as it looked previously. They are accepting the replacement queens well. If it cleans the mites as well as claimed, it is well worth it. I think that I may have overreacted somewhat.”

The results of this trial, and of others that I’ve seen the data from, do not indicate that MAQS treatment causes excessive queen losses.

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/an-early-summer-test-of-mite-away-quick-strips/ (and scroll almost to the end)

If there's a serious varroa threat to a colony in mid-season, I think its worth a try.
Otherwise, there shouldn't be the need to spend this much on effective treatment.

 

[galileo]

I daresay it'll turn out to be a useful additional tool in the varroa treatment box, probably in the mid-season context.

However and touching wood, a combination of dusting, lifevar and oxalic seems to be tolerated well, so unless there are radical positives or a sudden infestation surge along the way, for me it'll likely be a case of ain't broke.....

 

[Erichalfbee]

The results of this trial, and of others that I’ve seen the data from, do not indicate that MAQS treatment causes excessive queen losses.

Yes I read Randy Oliver's article.
I speak, however, as a three hive owner and the loss of even the one queen would be significant for me.

 

[domino]

If there's a serious varroa threat to a colony in mid-season, I think its worth a try.
Otherwise, there shouldn't be the need to spend this much on effective treatment.

^ this, if varroa go bonkers I'll be buying this stuff. If they behave they won't be purged until the winter.

 

[Illo]

Very seriously thinking about it. for the majority of our hives, the main crop of the year is the Himalayan balsam, which goes on so late that it is difficult to squeeze in an apiguard treatment while the temperatures are high enough for it to be effective, and then to feed for winter if necessary. I've found almost without exception that the bees will not take feed while there is apiguard on....and later in the autumn it just gets too chilly for syrup feeding. ...the timings are tricky. There are high levels of resistance to some treatments in our area, so choices are limited as we don't want to make that particular problem any worse. So if MAQS provides a solution, then yes, worth a try.

LJ

 

[Hivemaker.]

I have often used formic in vertical A/S, quick, cheap,effective and low risk to the queen as she is not there, combine back after nine days.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Horizontal,surely?

 

[Finman]

Very seriously thinking about it. for the majority of our hives, the main crop of the year is the Himalayan balsam, which goes on so late that it is difficult to squeeze in an apiguard treatment while the temperatures are high enough for it to be effective,.......So if MAQS provides a solution, then yes, worth a try.

LJ

MAQS is formic acid and seems to represent "flash treatment". It is as sensitive to low temp as thymol and other formic acid treatments. Acid vaporizes quickly from paper strip.

That strip is now quite old product and results are now seen.
In high temps, over 25C, formic acid turns dangerous to queens.

Because stuff does not affect under cappings, it must be renewed 3 times in 3 weeks brood cycle.

.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Horizontal,surely?

Vertical.

 

[For want of a better word]

Do not breathe in the fumes... or you will end up horizontal

Was formic acid available a few years( probably quite a few) in a crystallised form?