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My winter configuration is two ten frame deeps and one medium. How many Apivar strips per hive? Is it 4 or 6 strips? I’ve looked at the directions and I’m a little confused on what to do. Thanks in advance.
Apivar Dosage question
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The number of strips is based on the size of the brood nest. If there is no brood, like in the medium super, you do not put strips there. Typically, you would use four strips in a double deep brood chamber set up. If the nest area is small in each box, like just 3-4 frames, you could treat with fewer strips.
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The dosage is one strip for each five frames covered with bees in the hive. If the medium has 10 frames covered with bees it would need 2 strips also. The trick is the instructions also state the strips should be between frames of brood. If the medium has no brood I would remove it to storage, treat the 2 deeps and then replace the medium and save the 2 strips for another colony.
I like AR Beekeeper's response about trying to remove the Medium during the treatment period. I understand that could be hard to do if you have honey that needs to be protected.
If your three box configuration (2D, 1M) is chock full of bees in all boxes, I would use 6 strips -- 2 in each box. I try to remove as many boxes as possible after honey harvest to try to keep my costs as low as I can. Sometimes, you just can't do it.
Obviously, we want to get as close to the label instructions as we can. However, the fear with Apivar is using too little, not too much. Too little is not only ineffective, but could potentially build resistant bees. They are roughly $3 a strip. You will either be spending $12 to treat that hive or $18. Weigh that $6 difference against the value of that hive, put the extra two strips in and go into winter knowing you did all you could do.
If your three box configuration (2D, 1M) is chock full of bees in all boxes, I would use 6 strips -- 2 in each box. I try to remove as many boxes as possible after honey harvest to try to keep my costs as low as I can. Sometimes, you just can't do it.
Obviously, we want to get as close to the label instructions as we can. However, the fear with Apivar is using too little, not too much. Too little is not only ineffective, but could potentially build resistant bees. They are roughly $3 a strip. You will either be spending $12 to treat that hive or $18. Weigh that $6 difference against the value of that hive, put the extra two strips in and go into winter knowing you did all you could do.
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$12-$18 per hive just for a single mite treatment?
Yep. Unless you can reduce them down to a single box where it will only cost you $6.
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One treatment is all it takes if properly done
Using Apivar is effective and very labor friendly. Put it in and six to seven weeks later take it out. Has to be timed for when honey supers are not present and before the bees start making winter bees. Does not work as well for beeks that get a nice fall flow.
its certainly pricey but effective.
For me with 25 hives 23x 10 F deeps and 18 michael palmer style 4/4/4 nucs i use 136 strips. ($367.20 for the late summer/early fall treatment). Is it expensive? probably not if it prevents the death of 2 hives it has paid for itself.
For me with 25 hives 23x 10 F deeps and 18 michael palmer style 4/4/4 nucs i use 136 strips. ($367.20 for the late summer/early fall treatment). Is it expensive? probably not if it prevents the death of 2 hives it has paid for itself.
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I can attest to the easy factor with apivar. It surely is easy, and if there was a way for me to make my own apivar strips, I'd do it. But as of now, only that one company sells these, and for a remarkably high price (in my opinion).
Perhaps if apivar was only needed once per year, it wouldn't be such an issue (even so it's still expensive).
In my area, we need to do at least one spring/summer treatment and at least one fall treatment.
That's $700 per year for your 25 hive setup.
With Johnos easy vap and a bag of 99%+ OA, and one of those respirator masks, the price is around $200 for the first year. And then $10 for every year after that. $10 versus $700.
Yes, it's far more "work", but is saving $500+ (savings is far higher for more than 25 hives) OAV worth an extra hour of labor for 5 treatments?
As an added benefit, OAV is apparently harmless to uncapped honey for human consumption (though the law clearly states this isn't allowed if honey is to be sold commercially). For my own personal use, I'll never take off another honey super so long as eating a mixed salad with almonds is more "dangerous" than treating with OAV.
On the other hand, I'd not use apivar with honey supers present. Even if it was just 1 strip.
Before splits in the spring, I do alcohol washes of all my hives and do OAV series treatments of those indicating mite loads with a ProVap 110 (shout out to snl) to try to get my mites under control before I split and put supers on the hives. By late March, early April, I have my supers on and they will usually not come off until mid to late July. As soon as my supers come off, I put in Apivar strips. When the Apivar strips come out of my hives, I do alcohol washes again. I rarely find more than 2 mites in my alcohol wash after Apivar treatment, but in the rare instances I do, I have treated with OAV series. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I do a single shot of OAV in all my hives with no pre- or post-treatment monitoring. In February, the cycle starts over.
I run between 20 and 30 hives. I have lost one to mite load in the past 4 years, and that one was due to beekeeper procrastination. Prior to this treatment regimen, I struggled.
So, 1 Apivar treatment and 1 single OAV treatment done prophylacticly each year, with 2 possible OAV series treatments performed if indicated after monitoring.
May seem like a lot, but I have brood in my hives all year long.
I think we all do what works for us. This seems to work for me.
I run between 20 and 30 hives. I have lost one to mite load in the past 4 years, and that one was due to beekeeper procrastination. Prior to this treatment regimen, I struggled.
So, 1 Apivar treatment and 1 single OAV treatment done prophylacticly each year, with 2 possible OAV series treatments performed if indicated after monitoring.
May seem like a lot, but I have brood in my hives all year long.
I think we all do what works for us. This seems to work for me.
I agree with you do what works.
I do OAV in the spring, formic pro mid summer and apivar at about the end of august after the last of the supers are taken and exctracted. Then they get 4 rounds of OAV 5 days apart in late october early november and one final single shot of OAV in December when broodless.
Last year i lost no hives at all thankfully.
This year i have a lot more hives so obviously the treatment is more expensive however i also harvested 800+lbs of honey and sold a bunch of nucs so the economics of treating and NOT losing hives to mites still adds up for me.
I agree with you do what works.
I do OAV in the spring, formic pro mid summer and apivar at about the end of august after the last of the supers are taken and exctracted. Then they get 4 rounds of OAV 5 days apart in late october early november and one final single shot of OAV in December when broodless.
Last year i lost no hives at all thankfully.
This year i have a lot more hives so obviously the treatment is more expensive however i also harvested 800+lbs of honey and sold a bunch of nucs so the economics of treating and NOT losing hives to mites still adds up for me.
aran: I would probably be running something almost identical to you if I could use formic in my climate. Formic with supers on in mid-summer would be ideal, but it is 100F here and I would wreck my hives. I have gassed out hives even with Thymol in October due to temps.
yeah even here its tough lol we are watching the weather forecasts like a hawk to pick out the 10day stretches with temps less than 85. Ah well if beekeeping were easy everyone would do it lol
Wow, that seems like a crazy amount of treatment.
well i certainly appreciate your opinion mate. However i will continue to do what keeps my bees alive. My mite counts are NOT zero despite these treatments.
But by all means feel free to do with your bees as you see fit.
Depending on your mite count and concern for using the same treatment to ofton.
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