It looks like buying 10 to 49 Apivar 50 packs a colony treatment would run you $4.68 per brood chamber. Seems a bit pricey, but is it if it works well? Less mess and safer to handle than MAQS. And MAQS aren't all that less in cost per recommended treatment.
What do you commercial guys think? I'm thinking about installing them in colonies in the south in April so I can take them out well before honey supers need to go on in NY.
Maybe this time of year OA dribble is the way to go?
I've used Apivar a number of times and have always been satisfied with the performance... I've heard from a number of sources that the full 56 day treatment is important though as it has little to no cell penetration.
One reason ( out of many ) I switched to single hive body management was to increase the efficacy of the Apivar treatment. I will treat the single hive body with two strips. Cheaper treatment than in doubles and the bees are forced onto the strips.
Apivar is a good mite treatment.
Mark, you've missed the boat on OA dribble. It does destroy some brood and doesn't do a thing for the mites in the brood ... where many are breeding if you have em. OAV is too time consuming for a commercial guy this time of year as you'd have to do it multiple times to catch the mites as they are emerging with the brood. Apivar is good way to go..... but as you said, costly.
I made 45 splits on march 7th. I put two stips per single deep box. When I did the splits I could see mites, and lots of them on the bees. I checked on march 22nd for my queen take and didn't see any mites. I hope to do a mite test as soon as the weather straightens up.
I was seeing way more mites then I have before on bees and drone brood this spring. im thinking of doin oa dribble on the new splits that I made from a cell and 2-3 frms brood. the new queen will just have started laying and the old brood should be mostly hatched. im mostly worried about hurting the bees that are left that have to live until the new queens brood starts hatching. and I want the temps to not be so hot and things are heating up in tx.
why do you say it is to much work to do a dribble for a commercial. it seems like a commercial is in his hives every week so you just carry the sprayer and give them a dribble every time your in the yard this spring. between checking for queen right, feed and adding supers, it seems like you could easily put a dribble on every hive once a week. but can the bees handle that?
im saving that expensive apivar treatment for august when you really need the silver bullet. it seems like for me if you split them down and requeen with a cell it buys you a good amount of time but if you don't treat when the honey is pulled in early august, you can kiss them good by.
I'm not sure who said it was too much work for a commercial. From everything I've seen, it is the treatment of choice by commercials during periods of broodlessness. Inexpensive, effective and easy to do.
Edit: I see the too much work comment. It was in reference to periods where there is brood and would require multiple treatments.
Ian I would caution you to approach an OA dribble in the spring. This is definitely a task for the boss. Bees coming out of the building are old and tired and OA dribble essentially tires them out. I understand the need to use an alternative treatment but...
One season in the fall, I had one foreign employee who probably applied more than the recommended dosage ( I can't keep watching them all the time, cause I got work to do) and come next spring the line of pallets he did were pretty much wiped out. So instead of bees on the ground I had inprints on the grass of where the pallets used to be. I cannot be sure but I think he overdosed them. He is no longer with us.
I believe I remember that time. I was there with you and said employee. I remember later on you told me that you knew the pallets you did, the pallets I did, and the pallets he did. I think he had a lot on his mind that day because I remember you also had that plump young red head out untying and tying up the pallet covers and every time she bent over half her butt was showing.
That being said, you had shown me the proper way to administer the OA dribble. It's helped keep the mites at bay. I like the apivar though. I think after a treatment with apivar you could almost go through the whole year with out using anything else.
I wonder though, If I'm treating in late summer early fall with apivar in my double broodnests, is it still advisable to put 2 strips in the top? It doesn't make much sense since the top box is all honey. I would think that 2 strips in the bottom box, where the last of the brood is being reared, would be sufficient rather than 4 strips per double.
9.36/colony. To me thts money. Spring+fall= 2 trtments=a whopping $18.72!!
paint Stick of traz in the entrance keeps mites down for 40 cents/ hive x 3 spring= $1.20. Then a fall oa dribble and good nutriton in the fall seals it up. But of course its no longer appropriate to mention such treatments now adays even thou it has worked well for the last 12 years.
Amitraz can be quite toxic. Do you simply dip a paint stuck in Amitraz or dribble on a fixed amount and leave it in the entrance for how long? Mitaban is liquid Amitraz.
The label says to use 1 strip for 5 frames of brood(FoB) or less, to use 2 strips for 6 to 10 FoB, 3 strips for 11 to 15 FoB, and 4 strips for greater than 16 FoB.
I had surgery last early summer, and didn't get to do too much with my hives. I know it was late to be putting Apivar or any kind of treatment on the hives in October but I had a kind friend to come on a warm day and put Apivar on them. In less that the recommended time, the weather turned COLD, and couldn't get into the hives to take out the strips. They were taken off this early spring and not a mite to be found. I have four hives that were treated, and three VSH hives added. Would it be good to rotate treatment with Apiguard or do another this fall with Apivar>Thanks so much!!!
Not a safe assumption to make Ian. Just because one doesn't find any when they check in the Spring, however they check, that doesn't mean there are Zero mites in the hive. Just that they were not detected. Check again the same way and you might find one or two.
By Fall, three or four months later, those mites have gone through as many brood cycles as the bees have and you can have a level detrimental to the colony's ability to last the Winter.
So, if you don't treat unless you determine that the mite load warrants it the only way to know whether that level has been met is to check again early enough that a treatment can be applied.
Not a safe assumption to make Ian. Just because one doesn't find any when they check in the Spring, however they check, that doesn't mean there are Zero mites in the hive.
I agree. Im assuming the hive is being tested correctly
I assumed because usually when there is a very low mite pop in the spring, they cnat muster any devastating levels by fall, assuming that the testing method was accurate.
I use a shaker, and survey many hives. I like this method of testing as it seems to be gather enough information from the hives to form an accurate picture.
When I usually treat in the spring with Apivar, I usually dont treat the following fall.
I have been very impressed with Apivar and the colonies I treated last fall still have no mites on them. Just checked today. However, some folks have been trying to convince me to use an Australian medication, and given the cost, it might be worth it.
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