Varroa count during Apiguard treatment - any significance?

[ksjs]

Pretty much as the title says: I haven't done a varroa count before (under normal circumstances) and have just done my first but following 3 days with apiguard being in place. There were 7.

The brief info I've read on doing a count indicates that this should be based on natural mite mortality. Can I calculate anything from what I've counted?

Hope this hasn't been asked a hundred times before, I did a search on here and lots on varroa but couldn't see anything obvious about counts whilst treating with a'guard.

Thanks!

 

[CB008]

You may be surprised. You can get small drops early in the treatment and larger drops later on. Also, unless something sticky is on the varroa board then various other insects may be eating them or they may just up and leave. Hopefully your count will stay low though. I was seeing a few each day until about week 4

 

[TOBY-3652]

7 only 7.. Wish i had only 7 one of mine has dropped 5981 in 24 days and 3 more have dropped 1959 and 1866 and 1152 really glad i treated

 

[MuswellMetro]

5981.....i stop counting at 100.....and estimate the rest

i would add and extra tub of apiguard at week 4 extend the treatment by two weeks

 

[Bob Bee]

5981.....i stop counting at 100.....and estimate the rest

i would add and extra tub of apiguard at week 4 extend the treatment by two weeks

Surely Apiguard is a 6 week treatment already ? the first goes in for two weeks the second treatment is left in for 4.

( another acronym RTFM )

 

[Arfermo]

Surely Apiguard is a 6 week treatment already ? the first goes in for two weeks the second treatment is left in for 4.

( another acronym RTFM )

Suggest you read the instruction on the packet!!! 4 weeks ie 2 weeks per pattie but as mentioned above, extend it to 6 weeks with another pattie if necessary. Suggest you also get the pdf version of FERA leaflet on "Managing Varroa" as it is the most authoritative document on the subject and expalins what treatment and when as well the counting system.

 

[Bob Bee]

Suggest you read the instruction on the packet!!! 4 weeks ie 2 weeks per pattie but as mentioned above, extend it to 6 weeks with another pattie if necessary. Suggest you also get the pdf version of FERA leaflet on "Managing Varroa" as it is the most authoritative document on the subject and expalins what treatment and when as well the counting system.

Heres the exact wording.
Open the hive. Peel back the foil lid of the APIGUARD tray leaving one corner of the lid attached to the tray. Place the open tray centrally on top of the brood frames, gel side up. Ensure that there is a free space of at least 0.5cm between the top of the tray and the hive cover board, for example by placing an eke or an empty super on the top of the brood box. Close the hive.

After two weeks place a new tray beside the old one, following the same procedure. Leave the product in the colony for a further 4 weeks or until the supers are installed, whichever is the sooner.


I think that means 2+4 = 6

 

[Bob Bee]

Suggest you read the instruction on the packet!!! 4 weeks ie 2 weeks per pattie but as mentioned above, extend it to 6 weeks with another pattie if necessary. Suggest you also get the pdf version of FERA leaflet on "Managing Varroa" as it is the most authoritative document on the subject and expalins what treatment and when as well the counting system.

And have a look at page 22 of the pdf you wanted me to read, which I have read on a number of occasions......

Lets not make it up as we go along, give larger / smaller doses than recommended because we thought we remembered something someone said once.....
I'ts surely a major mistake to think that because a treatment is good , giving more than recommended must be better.

 

[Finman]

.
They are there even if you do not count.
You may kill them without counting.
You need not to use sticky board.

I have so much to do in autumn that counting is not in my shedule.
I have not even count my hives.

 

[Ruary]

Suggest you read the instruction on the packet!!! ......... Suggest you also get the pdf version of FERA leaflet on "Managing Varroa" as it is the most authoritative document on the subject .

I am sorry but I must disagree. The FERA document is very good but for a particular treatment the authoritive document is the leaflet (label) provided by the manufacturer. Under law you MUST follow the instructions ON THE LABEL, not any instructions you might have picked up from somewhere (and that includes the manufacturers web page),
Ruary

 

[rae]

Under law you MUST follow the instructions ON THE LABEL

This is quite funny. If you pick up a foil tray of apigard, there are no instructions on it at all. I know because I wanted to check this year how long you're meant to leave them on for. There aren't any instructions in the cardboard box either, the only place with instructions was their web site...

 

[Steve_gts]

The instructions are on the outside of the box, but yes it's a bit odd that they are not on the trays, especially seeing as you can buy them individually. Or is that just people splitting packs for resale perhaps?

 

[drstitson]

from vita website (found despite all the broken links).

"Apiguard is extremely easy to use:
• Place the opened tray face upwards in the top of brood frames, preferably centred over the colony.
• After 10 days examine the tray and if it is almost empty, replace with a second tray. If there is product left in the tray after 10 days leave until day 14 and then replace.
• Leave the second tray in position for a further 2-4 weeks and treatment has been completed (duration of treatment therefore lasts 4-6 weeks).
Apiguard works best in temperatures above 15°C. But it is also effective at lower temperatures even though the gel takes longer to evaporate and the gel needs to be left in place for longer."

 

[BobsBees]

Apiguard

In the past I have found that the gel dries out well before the girls can eat it all.

This year I am NOT treating with anything, Not seen much Varroa on any of my OMF floors. Not even 7.

But I will treat them to a dribble of Oxalic in late December.
21 Hives now and on the up each year. Two Apiaries and back garden.
Bob.

 

[Flatters]

Just treated two of my hives at the moment and will do the others at weekend when I have made some ekes.

Mite drop on the two hives low, but early days though. I do wonder if the bees are adapting to resist the mite, maybe culling thier own drones or grooming themselves better to remove the varroa. It is normal for an animal to adapt to a change in a situation. It is possible even that perhaps our interference with Thymol and OA is now actually slowing down that adaptation down. We may have been helpful in the early years when varroa came to our shores, but now we have become a hinderence.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Just treated two of my hives at the moment and will do the others at weekend when I have made some ekes.

Mite drop on the two hives low, but early days though. I do wonder if the bees are adapting to resist the mite, maybe culling thier own drones or grooming themselves better to remove the varroa. It is normal for an animal to adapt to a change in a situation. It is possible even that perhaps our interference with Thymol and OA is now actually slowing down that adaptation down. We may have been helpful in the early years when varroa came to our shores, but now we have become a hinderence.

Or it could be that the varroa is developing resistance to Apiguard, hence the low mite count.

 

[Otleybee]

Beware of low varroa counts and not treating with apiguard. I have had very low drops during the summer but within one day of treating with apiguard I had a drop of over one hundred on day one. Glad I treated.

 

[Bob Bee]

Or it could be that the varroa is developing resistance to Apiguard, hence the low mite count.

Id be interested to see any science on this just because it seems logical. Apiguard is in the same ball game as Oxalic and Formic Acid. Totally different than fluvalonite and coumophos, which bees build up resistance to, so unlikely to go the same way as parethyroid. The Vita website states its very unlikely so that immediately makes me suspiciouse.

 

[TOBY-3652]

I will probably place another tray in worst hives after 4 weeks the one thats dropped 5891 these are what i have counted off the board and i didnt grease it so it is probably a lot more than i have counted

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Beware of over-dose.
There will be a reason why the manufacturers don't suggest putting a third tray on.