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Commercials Using Apigaurd

23K views 52 replies 20 participants last post by  NoDak Beekeeper 
#1 ·
Is anyone using Apigaurd? I saw it in use for the first time yesterday. How many of you are using it? How do you like it? Cost effectiveness evaluation?

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
It's a good product. Works real well between boxes in a double, if you put it on top bars you want to use a rim or recessed lid as there is a tendency to propolize it against the lid. It's a pretty good jolt to the bees and will kill some pupae but they recover pretty quickly. I would stay away from using it if temps over about 90 are expected.
 
#5 ·
I nearly didn’t reply, as you specified commercial and I’m not sure I qualify.
I have used Apiguard on a couple of hundred hives. It works pretty well. If temps are over 90, reduce the dose. The manufacturer’s website says to do this, the US distributor (Dadant) fails to mention it. It is disruptive to the colony. I’ve seen some brood loss, temporary shutdown of brood production and occasional supercedures. These are at higher temps than you may have. I would expect some absconds if you used a full dose at high temps. I use the application cards supplied by Dadant. I tried some 4x6 index cards from an office supply but they absorb much of the fluid. The Dadant cards are coated, so they don’t seem to.
According to the manufacturer, the product works both by contact and as a fumigant. They say to close off screened bottoms.
Price effective? I guess as much as any of the thymol products. Two applications.
I just got a couple of tubs this week. I will be using Apiguard and Hopguard this year. Hopguard is clearly more costly but I’m thinking to try it all the same.
Good luck.
 
#11 ·
I nearly didn’t reply, as you specified commercial and I’m not sure I qualify.
I have used Apiguard on a couple of hundred hives. Good luck.
That's why I Posted this Thread in the Commercial Section. So it might get answered by other commercial beekeepers. But, don't worry, I am glad to have your input. This Forum isn't restricted as far as I know. Not like other Forums.
 
#10 ·
I am not commercial so not sure if it matters. I had planned on Apiguard being my primary treatment in a week or two but I had to leave town on short notice and threw supers on most of my hives just in case this fall flow was as big as last years. They have drawn and started to fill those so nicely that I am opting for MAQS this season just so I can leave these extra supers on till the end of the season. That to me is the only downside of Apiguard in that you can't always treat when you want.
 
#12 ·
That to me is the only downside of Apiguard in that you can't always treat when you want.
I thought you could. So, it's not a good idea to slap on the Apigaurd and then add a cpl of supers? But it is alright to do that w/ MAQS?

I have some MAQS a friend of mine gave me. I threw them on a yd which I took honey from today. Then I supered for goldenrod. Not a great go round for the first crop. Two shallows per hive.
 
#13 ·
Apiguard instructions say do not treat with honey supers on the hive.

MAQS is fine for use with supers on and is the reason I am using it this fall. Next year I might plan a bit differently (harvest later and leave most of the goldenrod for the bees) and be able to use the Apiguard. I think I may have harvested too early as they are bringing in tons of nectar right now and if I didn't have the extra supers on I imagine they would be busting at the seams.

One great thing at MAQS is you treat once and are done. If I had hundreds of hives this would have been enough of a reason to use it.
 
#14 ·
I think there is a danger of tainting any honey produced with a thymol smell. I have heard heresay reports of beekeepers using it during a surplus flow without a problem but there would seem to me to be a lot of variables (honeyflow intensity, temps, ventilation, number of boxes etc.) to make any kind of blanket statement on that. I have experimented with applying thymomite strips in the middle of a double with a medium surplus super on and couldn't detect any odor in the honey at all. I have not tried it with Apiguard though.
 
#20 ·
Surely it's still effective. Maybe not as, but effective.
How long do you usually go between hive inspections after harvesting honey? To my thinking, if you go more than three weeks between treatments....the effectiveness will be substantially less. If you allow those mites that were in the brood during the first treatment to initiate a second reproductive cycle you've wasted your time.....again in my opinion.
 
#21 ·
In my case I have around 400 some hives and I usually put a mite treatment on as I pull the last supers and then not again until Spring, just before apple pollination. Now that I have MAQS on some those will probably not get another treatment until they get down to SC. Whereas the rest will get treated w/ Apigaurd soon and then either before they go South or soon after getting down there, I imagine.

I don't usually go into the brood nest regularly once the hives have been set up so as not to swarm.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Can anyone tell me about the need for a rim or resecssed lid.
Apiguard comes in several different packages. The basic is a predosed tin. If you are using that, you need some means to make sure that the bees can get into the tin to remove the stuff…this is the contact part of its operation. If you place it between supers or above the top box, you need a shim to allow the bees access.
If you use it from a bulk tub, placing the dose on a delivery card you do not need a shim. But, as Jim pointed out, if you place it on the top of the hive, the bees will likely glue it and the frames to the cover.
I believe they are now selling a third delivery method. It is a half dose sachet. Probably don’t need a shim if placed between supers. Surely the priciest of the methods.
If my memory serves me, I believe you should place the dose directly above the brood frames. It makes sense, as this is where you will find the heaviest population of mites.
Happy mite hunting to all.
 
#25 ·
For what, MAQS? Or Apigaurd? I set supers above the MAQS I put on today. I'm going to be busy extracting for a while and don't want to miss any honey coming in, so I don't see the point of only applying the MAQS.

I guess the point of rims, as far as treatments are concerned, is to allow air flow all around the pad, rather than compressing it down.

Rims in the cover help give some space for pollen pattys to lay on the top bars so bees can get all around them.
 
#27 ·
I meant rims when applying Apiguard. It seems that it is recomended to either placed inbetween two brood boxes or on top bars under lid with a rim for space. I have mostly single brood boxes but my lids do have a 1/8" lip and I would buy the bulk stuff to place on cards.
Can you use it on the bottom board?
 
#29 ·
Thinking of using apiguard instead of maqs this go around. Most of my hives are deeps with 2 mediums with an 8th in rim on the lid. So I should be able to place them on the top and cover with the lid?? I'll use the standard card to place the 50 gr scoop onto. But I'm not real crazy about having to go around twice.
 
#30 ·
I have tried putting Apiguard directly under a flat lid and didn't have much success as they will usually just propolize the stuff up against the lid. I would be afraid only an 1/8" recess might not be enough evaporative room, but that is just a guess. Between boxes has worked quite well though. I see that is also what Randy Oliver recommends.
 
#35 ·
I use Apigaurd in Dec. I treat half a scoop twice about 10 days apart. My lids have 5/8 rims on them ,I used to use flat lids , I dont think you get as good of a kill though I think it needs the room to kinda air out. The first dose will mess the bees up for a few days so they will look bad ,It will also weed out any week hives, anybody thats on there way down will get finished off. They dont mind the 2nd treatment as much though . I think It works great, Ive used it since it first came out and recommend it.
 
#36 ·
Good thread here--I am not a commercial beekeeper by any means but I have used the product--one thing I didn't see posted here is that you should not use it at cooler temps --I think the manufacturer warns not below 60 degrees because the gel is supposed to sublime into a vapour and that is what kills the mites. If you use it in late fall (like I did....) the gel just crystallizes and gets hard as a rock and does nothing.
Any more input from anybody about no shims--Randy Olivers site says he puts the treatment between the two supers and while it doesn't say the photos look like he just sticks it in on a regular index card -- I cant see making up all kinds of shims!

Finally a beekeeper near me makes his own thymol patties but I have no Idea of the costs involved or where to get the thymol anyone ever try this??
 
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