Varroa treatment

[steve1958]

I am not planning on using Maqs next year due to problems it has caused me recently.
However
A thought... The active ingredient is Formic Acid
250 mls of which you can by on eb@y for £3.99
Considerably less than the Maqs treatment.
So
Anyone fancy trying to reproduce this and make their own?

 

[Tom Bick]

I think plenty of people in the past did just that but I understand it's not the best thing to work with and get it wrong and the the problems you have had this year with the MAQS could be a whole lot worse.

Out of interest what problems have you had this year. Someone at my association this year used them on ten hives and lost six queens

 

[oliver90owner]

Anyone fancy trying to reproduce this and make their own?

Nassenheider evaporators. Been around years.

£3.99 for 250ml? Now that is an expensive way to buy it. That may be more concentrated than needed, so need handling with greater care.

Housewives (mainly) used to manage to use 'killrock-K(sp?) without incident for generations. Surely it has not become more dangerous in recent years - or perhaps those ladies were sharper than the average modern day beekeeper? My mum was certainly good at her job as housewife and had time to help on the farm most days (and particularly at busy times).

 

[itma]

I am not planning on using Maqs next year due to problems it has caused me recently.
However
A thought... The active ingredient is Formic Acid
250 mls of which you can by on eb@y for £3.99
Considerably less than the Maqs treatment.
So
Anyone fancy trying to reproduce this and make their own?

As stated Formic Acid evaporation has been around for ages.

The point about MAQS is that they provide a much safer means for the beekeeper to use this material.
Formic Acid is an extremely nasty chemical to deal with.
Rubber gloves are adequate for dealing with MAQS.


Incidentally, I'd be very hesitant about buying ANY chemicals from an unknown supplier …

 

[BeeJayBee]

... used to manage to use 'killrock-K(sp?) without incident for generations.

Still on the market, from B+Q and Robert Dyas for example. Probably the best limescale remover available, but I wouldn't recommend trying it on bees!