Ok - I'm paging through ABJ Feb. 2013 and see Dadant has a big ad for Amitraz. Isn't this the stuff that was in mitacure years ago and discontinued because of beekeeper issues and or a lawsuit or am I just senile? Anyone using it? I see it comes in a foil pouch (like cumophos)
Another ad was for Caspian Syrup - never heard of it? Anyone familiar with it? Using it?
Caspian Solution? I know someone was on here last year trying to garner interest in it, and I've seen ads for it on craigslist. It was just recently approved, but maybe someone's used it.
Yes, amitraz was the active ingredient in plastic strips that killed a lot of bees in Florida in the 90s. I heard that years ago, too. At ABF, I had a great talk with Lawrence Cutts, who was there when it happened and was part of the investigation.
There were two different strips in similar packaging. The first were white and were the amitraz strips to be used with honeybees. The second were brown, and killed some bees. Amitraz was used for tick control in cattle. The ticks became immune to the chemical, and the company had lots of cattle strips left, so...
They cut up amitraz cow collars and sold them to beekeepers. Now you know.
Cow collars - Now it's all coming back - I guess the manufacturer must have taken the concept of honeybees as "livestock" a little to literal. 6 week treaments - must not be very effective or perhaps they are making it super low dose to avoid the problems of the past. So then I get to wondering about the flea products being used to soak into towells and placed on top of hives - is that amitraz as well.
If you are going to irradiate the bee pollen (obviously to kill AFB spores) why would you not have the same concerns with Royal Jelly. Is there enough Royal Jelly production in the USA to support putting it in bee food when it's $15/ounce in a jar? It sure seems there would be risk of AFB spores to potentially be found in any bee food containing Royal Jelly from an untested source and I guess I would have to question the advisiability of feeding pheromones and RJ to worker bees in quantities that would not occur naturally in the hive. Maybe things here I don't clearly understand?
I know of commercial beekeepers who use Taktic and swear by it. They just soak a shop towel and apply three times at roughly 9 day intervals. Apparently it doesn't penetrate capped brood, thus the need for multiple applications.
I know a man here that uses it but has allot of trouble with bees dieing and people claiming his honey makes them sick. I don't know if the problems are related to tactic but it makes me wonder. The active ingredient is allot stronger then the dose in apivar and i'm not sure how you would measure a dose of tactic as it's not approved for bees.
The reason for the long treatment period is because it is a contact miticide so it has to be in the hive long enough to get a couple full rounds of brood so it has time to kill the mites that are in the cells.
if you get Bee Culture the Nov 2012 article on page 25. Managed pollinator CAP from the front lines-the war against varroa has a good write up on Amitraz and Taktic.
I have used caspian solution with great success. caspian solutiion does not contain any antibiotics. caspian solution will help cure afb. I used caspian solution to cure afb in my hives. as far as the royal jelly and pheromones containing afb spores what's the point !!!!!! it will take care of afb. if you want first hand information, please contact me at cooksbees@gmail.com I will be happy to answer any of your questions. irwin harlton if you would reveal your source as to the comment that caspian solution contains antibiotics it would help us in seeking legal action against that person and or entity. that statement is very unfair and is not substantiated. there are numerous benefits to using caspian solution. brood production,queen introductions,wax production,combining populations,and many more. go to caspianapiaries.com another site go to you tube, then caspian solution, i have some videos uploaded there.
... as to the comment that caspian solution contains antibiotics it would help us in seeking legal action against that person and or entity. that statement is very unfair and is not substantiated. there are numerous benefits to using caspian solution.
Hmm, the website promoting Caspian Solution has a mixing recipe that includes portions of "registered antibiotics AFB/EFB" when preparing Caspian solution for use. I can certainly see why someone might think there are antibiotics in this product. Here's the recipe as posted on the website:
To make 10 US gal of Caspian Solution.
5 oz. dry Caspian Solution powder
7.5 gal mixed syrup (2 sugar to 1 water)
10 oz. pollen
10 oz. honey
1.25 gal warm water 0.25 oz registered antibiotics AFB/EFB
.... Caspian Solution, in conjunction with registered antibiotics, can be used for the treatment of AFB, EFB, Nosema apis, Nosema ceranae, and amoeba diseases all at the same time.
Hello,
caspian solution if free of antibiotic but you have to add on if you need you bactrical disease control , the powder form caspian you get is free of antibiotic
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Beesource Beekeeping Forums
1.8M posts
54.7K members
Since 1999
A forum community dedicated to beekeeping, bee owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, honey production, health, behavior, hives, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!