Winter treatments

[pargyle]

On the contrary.

Each beekeeper will make their own decision (even if that is indecision) based on their own bees, circumstances and anxieties.

Seems to me there are precious few definitive answers in beekeeping.
Which adds to its richness and diversity.

The only certainty is uncertainty.
To think otherwise is a primitive defence against anxiety.

Dusty

Can only agree with you Dusty .... but we all seem to spend a lot of time being indecisive .... or considering if you prefer.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

but we all seem to spend a lot of time being indecisive .

I'm not sure whether I do

 

[oliver90owner]

indecisive .... or considering if you prefer.

Not the same thing. Considering and deciding is the right way to go. How many on this forum have acted in haste and then come on here 'crying over spilt milk'. Agreed some would not have had a clue, even if they had rubbed brain cells together (in which case they should have come on here and asked first), but there are numerous threads where a queen cell has been torn down without thinking - and there were no more eggs or young larvae.

 

[madasafish]

The problem with many thymol treatments is that to be effective you need temperatures above 20C to vaporise the thymol (roughly speaking.)

The treatment last 4 weeks.

Who forecasts the UK weather accurately 4 weeks ahead?

So the system has indecision built in.

 

[Vramin]

The problem with many thymol treatments is that to be effective you need temperatures above 20C to vaporise the thymol.

I still don't really understand the importance of the external temperature, given that the brood is kept at 35C, and the treatment is placed on the brood frame bars in the rising heat. The hive is jam-packed by the end of summer, so should retain its heat - not many empty spaces. And with top insulation, even better.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

 

[Walrus]

Instructions for Apiguard say outside temp should be at least 15 degrees Celsius. I don't think it is just about vaporising the thymol. The bees need to be active so that the treatment gets well spread throughout the hive. Presumably the makers of Apiguard have done tests and found that if external temps are above 15 degrees it works properly. Also, the amount of sealed brood is decreasing towards the end of Summer which means less hiding places for the mite.

 

[Finman]

The problem with many thymol treatments is that to be effective you need temperatures above 20C to vaporise the thymol (roughly speaking.)

The treatment last 4 weeks.

Who forecasts the UK weather accurately 4 weeks ahead?

So the system has indecision built in.

Mite treatment does not depend on forecast accuracy. It is sure.


It is not so difficult. Even helpless people can treat varroa.

Day temp shoud be 15-17C.

Here thymol pads are installed when winter feeding is going. Activity keeps the hive warm.

It depends how bad is mite contamination, but in ordinary cases thymold during feeding works in practice fine. In bad cases treatment must ber started before winter bee rear9ng starts.

 

[Finman]

Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

It has been noticed in practice. In scientific researches have been done so much 15 years ago.

 

[Hawklord]

What is the difference between Apistan and Apiguard, why is there resistance to one and not the other?

 

[itma]

Why won't the thymol syrup work, surely it's the active chemical in Apiguard/Apistan?

No!

What is the difference between Apistan and Apiguard, why is there resistance to one and not the other?

Apistan is nothing whatsoever to do with Thymol.
It is based on pyretheroid insecticide, to which the mites can develop resistance. (Particularly if they are exposed to not-quite-lethal doses - such as by daft beeks failing to remove the strips at the end of treatment.)

Apiguard is thymol in a controlled-release gel. So it vapourises slowly.
No mite resistance has ever been scientifically shown to Thymol.