What to expect following Apiguard treatment

[Nordicul]

Hi All
I have just finished a months treatment of Apiguard (two weeks twice) on two hives.

This was the first time I have ever used the product, so I was a bit surprised , shocked even when on inspecting one hive I could find only a very few capped brood cells, I saw no larvae or eggs though I did see the Queen. The frames all had a good covering of bees.

It had been a good hive, started as an over wintered Nuc in the spring which gave me a good lot of honey.

Q's Is the total absence of brood normal? Should with feeding the queen start laying and get enough bees to overwinter? Or is it doomed?

The other hive has fared a bit better as I found it still had a couple of frames of capped brood.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[drex]

In my experience the queen often goes off lay during thymol treatment. However I have never seen it last for the whole period of treatment. Never had a problem overwintering after thymol

 

[Eyeman]

In my experience the queen often goes off lay during thymol treatment. However I have never seen it last for the whole period of treatment. Never had a problem overwintering after thymol

Your queen stopped laying for 3+ weeks which is unusual. Was there pollen/nectar still available as a lack of pollen/nectar may have been a contributory factor.
If they weren't so expensive I would consider getting one of those queen frame cages- keeping her on a frame for 2 weeks then removing that brood, releasing her and treating with OAV 1 week later would mean most if not all the mites are phoretic and you're only losing 2 weeks of brood. May look at making a DIY version from some of these plastic QE's I picked up cheap.

 

[For want of a better word]

Your queen stopped laying for 3+ weeks which is unusual. Was there pollen/nectar still available as a lack of pollen/nectar may have been a contributory factor.
If they weren't so expensive I would consider getting one of those queen frame cages- keeping her on a frame for 2 weeks then removing that brood, releasing her and treating with OAV 1 week later would mean most if not all the mites are phoretic and you're only losing 2 weeks of brood. May look at making a DIY version from some of these plastic QE's I picked up cheap.

Have not been using it as seemed to becoming ineffective... and excessively expensive and fiddly with hundreds of soppy little foil cups to open... not easy in nice big thick leather beekeeping gauntlets..... now vaporise OA with my Russian Varomoor Vaporiser

 

[Eyeman]

Have not been using it as seemed to becoming ineffective... and excessively expensive and fiddly with hundreds of soppy little foil cups to open... not easy in nice big thick leather beekeeping gauntlets..... now vaporise OA with my Russian Varomoor Vaporiser

It was one of these metal queen traps that I was considering. Seems simple to use.
https://bee-equipment.co.uk/collections/treatments/products/14-x-12-metal-queen-trap

 

[Nordicul]

Hi Again,

Thanks for all replies...there was a dearth of nectar/pollen during treatment time due to the drought, and I was not feeding them, though they seemed to have plenty stores going into the treatment period.

I'll inspect again after a week to see if Q has started to lay again (fingers crossed)...there was quite a mite drop seen on that inspection tray. So with luck and with the brood break, if she lays again the next batch of bees should be clear of varroa for the winter.

Thanks

 

[Spikedog]

Have used ApiG over the years. For past two seasons noted (with other keepers) Q’s going completely off lay at what is an inconvenient time of year I.e. winter brood preparation. Some colleagues have suspicions that winter loses, Nucs in particular are contributed to ApiG impact. I have moved to MAQS and used ApiG for Nuc’s - too small for MAQS and use half ApiG dosage. Also Vape in January. Regrettably, MAQS knocked down some Q’s (older) and am left with fingers crossed that Virgins will be suitably mated this week ... In short your experience is not novel. This season treated Nuc Q’s have not closed down (yet) but only on first treatment. I imagine an answer might be to insert ApiG earlier to allow Q’s come back on line laying winter bees. That might allow you having to take Supers off earlier... usual bee keeping frustration “on one hand while on the other”... I will consider vaping only for next season as members here have reported no adverse effect on brood.

 

[For want of a better word]

It was one of these metal queen traps that I was considering. Seems simple to use.
https://bee-equipment.co.uk/collections/treatments/products/14-x-12-metal-queen-trap

That's what good ol Thrones used to sell as a drone / varroa trap!

See they have not come down in price much over the last couple of decades!

Yeghes da

 

[Nordicul]

Hi All,
An update on my first Apiguard experience.

Good news, re inspected today and the Queen is back in lay. saw herself, capped brood, larvae and eggs.
So to answer my own question, Queen will start laying again within a week of Apiguard treatment finishing.

Only other thing was that up until today the girls have not taken down the feed I gave them in the form of an uncapped/wet frame...my other hive had no difficulty with this same type of feed, taking it all and more.

So why did they not take feed down? Was it :

1. Another effect of Apiguard on the Queen or girls ? If so will it to correct soon?
2. It was the wrong type of feed ie honey to give them after treatment? I have today swopped it to syrup.
3. Because it was their own honey, they treated it as their own uncapped stores and left it there ?
4. There was not enough of the right age bees in the hive to take honey down?
5. Some other reason?

Hope this does not sound to naive , just trying to understand these amazing insects.

 

[protheroe]

My bees never used to take syrup while thymol was in hive and the queens always went off lay but always bounced back after treatment.moved over to vapourising OA since last year and have had no issues with it.

 

[Bakerbee]

I have apiguard on 3 hives. Two have wolfed down syrup one has not. I too am not sure as to why they differ. The one that hasnt is slightly stronger hive but only by one extra frame of brood. All have relatively equsl stores so im still left wondering.

 

[Compost Kid]

I have apiguard on 3 hives. Two have wolfed down syrup one has not. I too am not sure as to why they differ. The one that hasnt is slightly stronger hive but only by one extra frame of brood. All have relatively equsl stores so im still left wondering.

Same here. Three hives all being treated with Apiguard. Two yomping down the syrup faster than I can replace but although the other is taking the syrup down, it’s slower and this week I found a few drowned bees in the feeder dome. They have loads of stores so I can’t believe they were starving and it’s now quite a big colony. This is my first experience of treating for varroa so it’s all new. The satisfying thing is that I’m seeing lots of varroa dropped onto the yellow board so it’s definitely doing the job.

 

[Nordicul]

Hi All,
Thanks Barkerbee and Compost kid, good to know I'm not alone out here with this issue. The fact that not many are rushing in with an answer suggests it must be a common enough occurrence one which will correct itself soon.

It’s ten days now since I finished treatment and there are now about a dozen bees up in the feeder, so at this moment I'm not too worried as they have quite a bit of stores, are pulling in lots of pollen and it looks now like they are starting to feed.

Next time though I'll try to treat a bit earlier giving me more lee way to build them up afterwards.

I see to from your posts that you both seem to have been feeding and treating them at the same time, if that’s just as effective a varroacide treatment then I’ll consider that method next time.

Again thanks for all your answers, hope your girls get supping soon