Varroa-Gard

[wojciech]

The latest issue of Beecraft is carrying an ardent testimonial in the Letters page for Varroa-Gard, alongside a full page ad (pardon my cynicism).

The claims being made for it appear little short of miraculous and superior to any other chemical tratment.

Does anyone have any experience of this product ?

 

[Russel]

A Previous thread may cast some light?

 

[wojciech]

Can't see it Russell - can you direct me ?

 

[Hombre]

Yes, click on the words "Previous thread" in the post above.

Call me cynical, but new products with glowing testimonials is probably a bit much to believe in.

One of the "active ingredients" calcium carbonate is probably ground up limescale and would you really want to shake it all over your frames?

 

[itma]

Since that other thread has a mis-spelling of the product name in its title, maybe its better to concentrate on this thread!

...
One of the "active ingredients" calcium carbonate is probably ground up limescale and would you really want to shake it all over your frames?

Its an ingredient, but a filler for dilution rather than being claimed to be 'active'. Its probably powdered chalk.



As a year-round option, it sounds interesting.

Apart from the preliminary discussion on that other thread, has anyone had any more experience of this "Oxalic Acid + Sulphur + Virucide + Thyme Oil" (Thymol?) preparation?

These quotes are from the other thread -

The active ingredients are printed on the lable:
Ethanedoic Acid
Green Sulphur
Wild Thyme Oil
Bioux ( a DEFRA approved {virucide} )
on a Calcium Carbonate powder base
Anybody know anything about these ingredients ?

Ethanedoic Acid is another name for oxalic acid. The VG product works on a similar principle to another product which is sold ostensibly as a hive cleaner. This is because they can't sell it as a varroa treatment because oxalic acid does not have the appropriate approvals despite being widely used across Europe as a varroa treatment.

The idea is to expose the colony more or less continuously to a low dose of oxalic acid. With VG it is done as a powder the bees walk across as they enter and leave the hive. The other product is a liquid which is trickled in at each inspection I think.

Both products also have other ingredients, in the case of VG some essential oils and a virucide.

i used it on half my hives all last year
half of them i used the trays
half i sprinkeld over the frames
When used in the trays after a while it goes solid so needs to be replaced on a regular basis otherwise it become nothing more than a concrete step for them

sprinkled over the frames it just makes a mess and the bees seem to ignore any empty comb that and then you have to replace or brush any off

all the hives treated come through the winter treated with this but they seem a lot weaker than the hives i treated with vapour.

this year i will not be using the powder system again
To test this product to see how affective it is needs at least 3 or 4 seasons as i have found the counts have been very low the past two years anyway.

It seems that it is used as a powder 'footbath' for the bees entering and leaving the hive, with a shallow tray containing powder placed just inside the entrance.
Seems to be sold by Th*rnes and M*dern B**keeping, likely others too - so I doubt its really 'snake oil' ...

 

[Skyhook]

It seems that it is used as a powder 'footbath' for the bees entering and leaving the hive, with a shallow tray containing powder placed just inside the entrance.
Seems to be sold by Th*rnes and M*dern B**keeping, likely others too - so I doubt its really 'snake oil' ...

Sounds like hiveclean- a weak treatment that may help knock the numbers back a bit...

 

[boca]

Calcium oxalate

One of the "active ingredients" calcium carbonate is probably ground up limescale and would you really want to shake it all over your frames?

Its an ingredient, but a filler for dilution rather than being claimed to be 'active'. Its probably powdered chalk.

Oxalic acid is effective against varroa, because it is a relatively strong acid. The pH of the 3.2 g/100ml solution is about 1.

So what happens if you mix it with calcium carbonate?

A nice neutral salt. As effective as powdered sugar.

 

[Luminos]

I'm using Varroa Gard weekly now, along with icing sugar dusting when the temperature favours, as my bees are showing symptoms of DWV.

I've being topping up with Varroa Gard every 6 or 7 days for the past few weeks,and have gone from a few mites on the varroa monitoring board, to somewhere between 50 and 100 every 1- 2 days

So, it's either coincidence, or, the Varroa Gard and/or icing sugar is having some effect, at least until the temperature drops enough for me to use OA.

Unfortunately, the bee drop is marginally higher than the varroa mite drop and it seems very likely I will have no bees left on which to apply OA...

 

[oliver90owner]

So what happens if you mix it with calcium carbonate?

Nothing ... think Andrew's Liver salts... until it gets damp. Then the acid will react with the carbonate to form calcium oxalate and carbonic acid. The carbonic acid will almost immediately break down to water and carbon dioxide gas.

Calcium oxalate is insoluble in water (used to be used in the gravimetric analysis for calcium)

So likely better than powdered sugar, but possibly/probably not on a cost basis.

RAB