If you saw a demonstration of the volume of "smoke" they produce in about 25 seconds you would be an instant believer. Every bee turns on its own blower too. Amazingly in a few minutes after you pull the rag out of the entrance they are back to foraging like nothing happened.I currently use a Varrox but am curious about the band type vaporizers. How can you be assured the OA is circulating throughout the hive and not just staying along the cooler outside wall, given the short length of the pipe that channels the OAV into the hive? Thanks.
It is exactly as Frank says. Personally, I question how a Varrox style wand is capable of doing it's job at all and attribute many of the OAV treatment failures to wand style vaporizers' ineffective dispersion of the "smoke".If you saw a demonstration of the volume of "smoke" they produce in about 25 seconds you would be an instant believer. Every bee turns on its own blower too. Amazingly in a few minutes after you pull the rag out of the entrance they are back to foraging like nothing happened.
Interesting. I think Varrox was the first one around. I've tried two other pan types and theywere crap - Varrox stands the test of time as built durably. Not to say there haven't been improvements since then, but I trust it was designed well - after all, the great results in mite control with OAV that were documented early on came before the band vaporizer even existed. I see the OA "smoke" exiting from cracks at the top of the hives, so I know it's traveling. And the bees' fanning helps that, just like with the band design. It sounds like JW is saying the band type actively forces/blows the smoke. Is that correct? Still, ProVap's too pricey for me!It is exactly as Frank says. Personally, I question how a Varrox style wand is capable of doing it's job at all and attribute many of the OAV treatment failures to wand style vaporizers' ineffective dispersion of the "smoke".
Hi Karen, personally, spending the money is worth it. 🙂Interesting. I think Varrox was the first one around. I've tried two other pan types and theywere crap - Varrox stands the test of time as built durably. Not to say there haven't been improvements since then, but I trust it was designed well - after all, the great results in mite control with OAV that were documented early on came before the band vaporizer even existed. I see the OA "smoke" exiting from cracks at the top of the hives, so I know it's traveling. And the bees' fanning helps that, just like with the band design. It sounds like JW is saying the band type actively forces/blows the smoke. Is that correct? Still, ProVap's too pricey for me!
$500-600 for the 9 hives that I currently have, with no plans to expand? Not! Probably makes more sense for the large scale beekeeper.Hi Karen, personally, spending the money is worth it. 🙂
I don’t think the ones that were mentioned above are that much money; check out Biermans. I bought Johnos, I am a backyard beekeeper too. I would not pay that much either.$500-600 for the 9 hives that I currently have, with no plans to expand? Not! Glad it works for you.