New varoa treatment!

[susbees]

Because there is currently no effective and convenient treatment suitable for use in the honey season.

.

Which is why treating in August/early September and possibly in winter is a good system. Comments like don't squash any queen cells or virgin queens after treatment and the prospect of bee bearding/browned grass/dead brood/possible fibs about it going through cappings/pretence that it's a "big thing" in honey (that doesn't cause extensive fumes). Nope. Not for me. I would far prefer to frame trap in extremis. This one reads stressed colony to me.

 

[victor meldrew]

Having read about this treatment on here and other fora, I feel it not to be the treatment we are waiting for .
You may as well do a Bailey comb exchange ,the brood is doomed anyway?
I shall carry on with my version of IPM, as I have since 1996 when Varroa first appeared in my colonies.
I'm surprised at the VMD sanctioning it's use given the almost zero field trials in this country!
Canada is a far different country with clearly defined seasons .
Call me a fuddy duddy but I'll stick to what works for me until something better comes along thank you!
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Barbarian]

[VID][/VID]Some North American beeks have reported problems with this product.

Queen failure. Bees driven out of hive/bearding. Dead bees on ground in front of hive.

I think I will wait awhile. -

 

[Finman]

.

If you read Canadian researches about formic acid, you know better what queen losses mean.

When out temp rises over 25C, queen losses may appear quite much even 30%.
In under 20C queen losses do not exist.

It is better to look first, what is influenging chemical behind the product name and then seek what the product promises.

.

 

[Hivemaker.]

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

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=22479

 

[BobsBees]

In the Honey season!

Because there is currently no effective and convenient treatment suitable for use in the honey season.

.

Does anyone treat their Bees during the honey season. If they do then they should not.
I don't treat with anything until December/January. Then its only OA.
Bob.

 

[rook66]

"Does anyone treat their Bees during the honey season. If they do then they should not.
I don't treat with anything until December/January. Then its only OA.
Bob"

Consumer confidence is everything, Honey is belived to be pure and untampered with, There are enough toxins out there in the food chain. Has Formic acid been tried/tested on humans?

 

[BobsBees]

 

[PBee]

If varroa levels have reached a critical level during a mid season honey flow it would probably be better to redistribute the supers to other hives, do a shook swarm onto foundation and treat with oxalic. Sacrificing the old combs may remove a possible contributory factor for the original varroa problem in the form of residue accumulation.

Formic acid treatment which was removed directly before putting on supers increased the residues found in honey over 3 times and were just under the taste threshold. There is no MRL for formic in honey but it doesn't seem like a good idea to treat with supers on.

 

[Mattbee]

Thanks for the PDF link. The scientific evidence is critical as we don't want residues increasing in honey. I also have hives in Gemany where varroa treatment is a fixed part of the beekeepers calendar, mostly using formic acid and always outside of the harvesting season. After the summers last honey flow, when the supers have been removed, the colonies are treated with formic acid, using dispensers. No honey can then be harvested.

 

[domino]

I'm surprised at the VMD sanctioning it's use given the almost zero field trials in this country!

Why does it need a field trail? It's not a drug and you can already use it in the UK no problem if you buy it in a bottle. The only reason it needs VMD approval is because they are selling it as a treatment.

 

[domino]

Does anyone treat their Bees during the honey season. If they do then they should not.
I don't treat with anything until December/January. Then its only OA.
Bob.

The point is it gives you an option if you need to, for example if your mite levels for some reason rocket. The more tools in the bag the better imo.

 

[Finman]

I don't treat with anything until December/January. Then its only OA.
Bob.

I have done this and it does not work. You have a long brood season and mites have time to reproduce so much that they reduce too much winter clusters.

.

 

[mbc]

Has Formic acid been tried/tested on humans?

Every child who has tried eating red ants has tested formic acid, most swiftly concluded that they were not for human consumption

 

[domino]

Every child who has tried eating red ants has tested formic acid, most swiftly concluded that they were not for human consumption

Anyone who has eaten strawberrys has also eaten it.

 

[greengumbo]

Pretty sure its in small quantities in honey as well !

 

[Finman]

Pretty sure its in small quantities in honey as well !

A right bet!

"There was a significant variation between the honeybee colonies that were
treated with formic acid, in the amount of evaporated formic acid (minimum 145
ml, maximum 280 ml). In some cases the amount that evaporated exceeded the
recommended amount. The formic acid residue found in the honey also showed
a significant variation (minimum 71.8 mg/kg, maximum 205.3 mg/kg).
However, there was no correlation between the two. A high evaporation resulted
in both low and high formic acid residue levels. The same goes for a low evaporation.

Formic acid is a natural component of honey. Variation in formic acid
residue levels between the honeybee colonies that were not treated was significant.
This variation in natural formic acid residue was also determined by
Bogdanov et al. (2002)."

http://www.apidologie.org/index.php...cess=doi&doi=10.1051/apido:2002029&Itemid=129

 

[Finman]

.
New method! 30 y old.

In 1979 Kunzler et al published the first results on the effectiveness of formic acid against Varroa jacobsoni.


http://moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/Varroa/formic_acid_concentrations.htm