OA vaporizer/Apirvar and honey supers

316 Views 12 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Sarahatl, 4 d ago

Sarahatl

Discussion Starter · 8 d ago

Hi All: i live in the south (ATL, GA) . Is there a temperature range when it is safe/unsafe to use OA? Is it OK to use with honey supers on? I was thinking of using Apivar strips in July and then OA in the winter time. The only problem with the Apivar strips is it says honey supers should be off . I am not planning on extracting my honey. Should I take off the honey supers (and store them somewhere) while I am treating. I know the treatment is 2 weeks or longer and what to do with those supers during treatment.
Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks so much.
PS. This is a new nuc I bought this spring. It is flourishing but I want to be proactive when it comes to varroa.

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Charles Prestridge

· #2 · 8 d ago

I do not know of a maximum temperature limit for OAV.

Best treatment schedule for me is to start Mid to end of July. Treat with OAV every 3 days (2-4) for 6-7 treatments.

Then treat again with OAV in late November to early December for 2-3 treatments every 2-4 days.

Research about using a large enough dose of OAV each treatment.

I have not been using Apivar, so I have no input for Apivar treatments.

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Sarahatl

Discussion Starter · #3 · 8 d ago

Thank you Charles- Do you do your OAV treatment with honey supers on? Thank you!

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Charles Prestridge

· #4 · 7 d ago

I treat after removing honey frames.

However, since you said you would not be removing any honey this year from new nuc, you can treat with some honey frames in the hive.

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Sarahatl

Discussion Starter · #5 · 7 d ago

Thank you Charles. Since the OA treatment is just a few minutes - would you advise taking the supers off and then just returning after the treatment?

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BonafideVermont

· #6 · 7 d ago (Edited)

There is no temperature limit to OA. It does not gas off therefore not adversely effected by high temp. OA is approved for use with honey supers on. Apivar is not allowed for use with honey supers on. Proactive would be conducting a mite count now not waiting until July to treat. If you are not eating the honey then it does not matter. That said, why are you leaving the supers on this year? It implies you will not be extracting honey yet you live in Georgia where you have short winters and the bees wont' need all that extra stores.

Maybe I'm not understanding what you are allowing for a brood area. Perhaps you are using one deep and two "supers" as the brood area. If that's the case they really are no longer honey supers, they are medium or small brood boxes. People use deep boxes for honey supers, the terminology is about the box use not the size of the box.

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Charles Prestridge

· #7 · 7 d ago

I would not remove supers in your case. I would just start treating middle to end of July. You want to greatly reduce mite load well before fall.

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Sarahatl

Discussion Starter · #8 · 6 d ago

BonafideVermont said:
There is no temperature limit to OA. It does not gas off therefore not adversely effected by high temp. OA is approved for use with honey supers on. Apivar is not allowed for use with honey supers on. Proactive would be conducting a mite count now not waiting until July to treat. If you are not eating the honey then it does not matter. That said, why are you leaving the supers on this year? It implies you will not be extracting honey yet you live in Georgia where you have short winters and the bees wont' need all that extra stores.

Maybe I'm not understanding what you are allowing for a brood area. Perhaps you are using one deep and two "supers" as the brood area. If that's the case they really are no longer honey supers, they are medium or small brood boxes. People use deep boxes for honey supers, the terminology is about the box use not the size of the box.

Thanks all for your advice. BonafideVermont - the reason I am not going to extract is because it my first year with this hive and I want to keep the stores for them. The thing is they are filling them up so fast though. I have deep brood box and I just added my 3rd super. The super above the brood box has a lot of eggs so that is really sorta of a brood box with lots of honey on the outside frames.
I probably have more than enough stores to make it through the winter and I could harvest about 5 or so frames but I don't have an extractor and not sure I want to rent one and go through this trouble for a few frames of honey. BUT....I may harvest this next year that is why I wanted to be sure that the honey supers that are left on when I treat will be OK to harvest if I do next year.
Does that make sense ? If not please let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

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Sarahatl

Discussion Starter · #9 · 6 d ago

Charles Prestridge said:
I would not remove supers in your case. I would just start treating middle to end of July. You want to greatly reduce mite load well before fall.

Thanks Charles - I did buy an OA vaporizer and will treat in the middle of July for sure! I just know several in my area treat with the Apivar in July and then with the OA in the winter. I really didn't want to treat with the Apivar because honey supers need to be off. I don't want to harvest that honey this year but what if I did next year? I would not be able to harvest that honey since I treated it with Apivar?
Again, I am learning so I appreciate all your help
Sarah in ATL

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Charles Prestridge

· #10 · 6 d ago

@Sarahatl, if you wish to extract 5-10 frames of honey this year, you can come to our house. My wife and I would be glad to help.

If you have freezer space, you can put 5-10 frames and extract anytime in the future.

Let me know if you need anything. My wife and I will be glad to help.

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Sarahatl

Discussion Starter · #11 · 6 d ago

Charles Prestridge said:
@Sarahatl, if you wish to extract 5-10 frames of honey this year, you can come to our house. My wife and I would be glad to help.

If you have freezer space, you can put 5-10 frames and extract anytime in the future.

Let me know if you need anything. My wife and I will be glad to help.

That is so kind of you Charles!! Beekeepers are the best friends! You are in Alabama right? If you were in ATL I would take you up on the generous offer. I am going to see if I can rent an extractor from my bee club. If not I will do crush and strain for a few frames but hate to use up their was they worked so hard for. Thank you again!!!!

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Charles Prestridge

· #12 · 5 d ago

Sarah, we are about 1.5 - 2 hours South of Atlanta. About 15 minutes from I-85. We can show you how we extract on a small scale (which is what you will be doing).

Good Luck.

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Sarahatl

Discussion Starter · #13 · 4 d ago

Charles Prestridge said:
Sarah, we are about 1.5 - 2 hours South of Atlanta. About 15 minutes from I-85. We can show you how we extract on a small scale (which is what you will be doing).

Good Luck.

Charles! Thank you so much for the kind offer. I think I am going to rent the extractor from my bee club and try this. I think I will figure it out. Thanks again so much!!!

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