[JasonA]

I've used apivar for several years with OAV. Apivar has done a good job and I've used OAV to clean up in winter and early spring just to stay ahead of the mites. I was shocked this year when I did a post Apivar mite wash. Six mites 2 weeks after a 45 day treatment. I had this in 5 or 6 mites in 4 hives and 3 in two more with a half cup of bees measured out. All hives were treated with the recommended dosage of strips per frame of bees. All Apivar was well within expiration date. Posting for others. I'm off to plan "B" which is OAV and Apigurad.

 

[Nicksotherhoney]

I heard the mites can grow a resistance to apivar.

 

[wildbranch2007]

I've used apivar for several years with OAV. Apivar has done a good job and I've used OAV to clean up in winter and early spring just to stay ahead of the mites. I was shocked this year when I did a post Apivar mite wash. Six mites 2 weeks after a 45 day treatment. I had this in 5 or 6 mites in 4 hives and 3 in two more with a half cup of bees measured out. All hives were treated with the recommended dosage of strips per frame of bees. All Apivar was well within expiration date. Posting for others. I'm off to plan "B" which is OAV and Apigurad.

View attachment 57909

did any of your neighbors have any crashing hives?

 

[JasonA]

Not that I'm aware of. I honestly don't know where the closest hives are too me. I know there has to be some though.

 

[wildbranch2007]

we can treat up here in the fall, and depending on the temp's in the fall, when the commercials pick up there hives and leave, the hives will be loaded with mites 2 day's later, to know if apivar failed you would have to test it I would think. Not my specialty but us it again with sticky boards in, the day you pull it, I would put in a new sticky board and do an OAV treatment and see how many mites fall over the next three days.

 

[bushpilot]

Last fall I had "never-ending" mites, treating repeatedly with OAV. A few months later I found out that down the road there was a hive that crashed and was robbed out.

 

[JasonA]

I was hoping that a local mite bomb was to blame. I have another yard about 2.5 miles from this one. There I had a nuc with 7 mites and 2 10 frame doubles with 3 and 5 mites. Unless I got bombed twice, I'm not sure about Apivar anymore.

 

[wildbranch2007]

I have another yard about 2.5 miles from this one. I'm not sure about Apivar anymore.

the mite bomb being located half way in between would affect both yards. I would test and see if your mites are resistant, all it takes is a commercial guy near you that has been using the illegal version for years and you get bombed once, you get his resistant mites and you get to keep them forever. That's why we are lucky to have other products.

 

[Kevinf]

Today a neighbor beekeeper just got a count of 43 mites at the end of his Apivar treatment. Not sure if a mite bomb was cause or resistance to blame. All his other hives are fine and Apivar brought the mite counts way down.

 

[JasonA]

Today a neighbor beekeeper just got a count of 43 mites at the end of his Apivar treatment. Not sure if a mite bomb was cause or resistance to blame. All his other hives are fine and Apivar brought the mite counts way down.

Dang. I had some as well that came down, but the 4 mites and above something else has to be done. I hope it is a mite bomb that has caused both of our problems and not resistant mites.

 

[beemandan]

The packs of Apivar were within the use by window and newly opened, I trust.

 

[Kevinf]

yep

 

[AstroZomBEE]

What were the pre treatment mite rolls?

 

[Kevinf]

Fortunately this is a neighbor beekeeper and not me but his pre treatment mite count was 7.

 

[AstroZomBEE]

Maybe it did work, but the expansion of the mites was just larger than expected.

Meaning the post treatment mite rolls probably would have been way worse without the apivar.