varroa treatment for polyhives

[Aledrinker]

Hi, trying to find a varroa treatment that's safe in polyhives and won't melt it.

Apivar - no good will melt Polysytrene
Apiguard - can not get an answer anywhere ?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated

Thank you

Ale drinker

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hi, trying to find a varroa treatment that's safe in polyhives and won't melt it.

Apivar - no good will melt Polysytrene
Apiguard - can not get an answer anywhere ?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated

Thank you

Ale drinker

Are we back in the same old same old Apivar / Apilife Var situation here?

 

[domino]

How does it melt the hive?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've used Apilife and Apiguard.
They go on the top bars in an eke and don't touch the hive. Never melted any of mine.
Apivar is amitraz based and the strips hang between the frames

 

[oliver90owner]

How does it melt the hive?

It doesn't, and used correctly is no problem. Contact of thymol with polystyrene will dissolve the polystyrene.

 

[itma]

Hi, trying to find a varroa treatment that's safe in polyhives and won't melt it.

Apivar - no good will melt Polysytrene
Apiguard - can not get an answer anywhere ?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated

Thank you

Ale drinker

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately, you need to be absolutely specific with product names - some are confusingly similar, for radically different products.

"Apivar" is only available from the EU under special prescription (it is based on the chemical 'Amitraz'), however it does not interfere with expanded polystyrene.

However "Apilife VAR" (a thymol product with camphor and other additions) on contact with poly does turn it to goo. It can be used in poly hives, as long as you take care (eg cooking foil 'dishes') to avoid contact with the poly.

Apiguard does not react with poly.


Apilife VAR and Apiguard will leave a Thymol taint to any honey on the hive, plus they need warm conditions, hence they are rarely used as Spring treatments.

I'd suggest that you download the latest "Managing Varroa" from Beebase and study it before proceeding further.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Hi, trying to find a varroa treatment that's safe in polyhives and won't melt it.

Apivar - no good will melt Polysytrene

I've used Apivar with no problems. The strips hang down between the frames and don't come into contact with any part of the polystyrene, but even so there's no solvent in the strips that can damage polystyrene.

 

[drstitson]

ALV is absolutely fine in polyhives. you just need to ensure either the wrapper, a piece of foil or the clear crown board sits between the biscuit and the poly of the roof.

you're much more likely to run into problems inadvertently dripping essential oils onto poly when setting up bait hives.

 

[Aledrinker]

Thanks for replies

Thanks to all for your replies - does anyone have a good spring varroa treatment suggestion that is not not temp reliant - thanks again

 

[MuswellMetro]

Thanks to all for your replies - does anyone have a good spring varroa treatment suggestion that is not not temp reliant - thanks again

Apivar from a vet imported under the cascade system, not temp dependant (supposidly) it is a contact miticide (amitraz) and only require contact with the Bees

if you are in an area without pyretheroid restance then you could try apistan or Bavarol which are also contact types

 

[Amari]

Thanks to all for your replies - does anyone have a good spring varroa treatment suggestion that is not not temp reliant - thanks again

MAQ strips? - formic acid based - but daytime temp should be above 10C. Best to read further stipulations on retailers' websites.
NB:I have not used MAQ myself. Plenty of info on this forum.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thanks to all for your replies - does anyone have a good spring varroa treatment suggestion that is not not temp reliant - thanks again

OAP three times five days apart.

 

[Bee Bumble]

OAP three times five days apart.

Old Age Pensioner?

 

[Gilberdyke John]

How does it melt the hive?

It doesn't, and used correctly is no problem. Contact of thymol with polystyrene will dissolve the polystyrene.

My hives are wood but if Thymol dissolves polystyrene I begin to wonder if using integral polystyrene hive feeders with Thymolised syrup could have a bearing on the reports of leakage through feeder walls that we heard last Autumn?

 

[oliver90owner]

Doubtful.

 

[itma]

My hives are wood but if Thymol dissolves polystyrene I begin to wonder if using integral polystyrene hive feeders ...

Thymol does NOT 'dissolve' polystyrene. Or otherwise damage it.
Your speculation is quite wrong.

It is the non-thymol ingredients in Apilife VAR, such as camphor, that do react with poly, but only on contact.
Prevent contact with the camphor, menthol and eucalyptus oil and you prevent damage.

Please note Apilife Var will melt plastic if it comes into contact with it. The way to prevent this is to use part of the packet the tablets come in by placing a square of it above the tablet and if using plastic frames do the same underneath. The manufacturers have approved this method. It is only direct contact with the tablet, which can cause melting. The vapours given off by the tablet do not cause any problems.

http://www.----------------.co.uk/item/161/api-life-var Auto-censored link is to modern beekeeping!

Thymol is not the problem.