Does ApiVar Really Work?? / Beekeeping 101
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2022
- Everyone looooooves mite treatments right?! Hahaha that was a joke... :) I tried out ApiVar for the first time and now I am here today to see if it worked. It is a synthetic treatment that has been said to show resistance in mites so the real question is how long will we be able to keep using ApiVar before it no longer works? Well that day may be here sooner than we think, as seen in my apiary :(
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beekeeping, varroa mites, fall treatments, beekeeper, treating for mites, struggles of beekeeping, mite treatments, how to, winterizing bee hives, getting ready for winter
Emily, you said that Apivar didn’t work at all but you also admitted there were a lot of dead mites on the bottom board and you were doing a mite test after 30 days. You definitely need to leave the Apivar in for 42 days minimum and 50 on a hive that infested. What you’re doing is like filling your car up with gas and heading to Florida and your car runs out of gas in Tennessee and then you say your car broke down and is a piece of junk!
😂😂😂truth
Hive had all their brood emerge.. with that all varroa emerged.. and now all on the bees. Plus treatment too short. Right now all they need is one good OAV to clean varroa off their back. Or let that amitraz poison do its 50 days job. It's all common sense
truth
Give the hive at least another 3 weeks with this treatment!!
You said you treated them with Formic Pro before back in the summer or wanted to , at this point you can't screw around with lame and chemicals anymore, time to bring out the big guns, 2 treatments of 4g oxalic acid vapor 7 days apart, then 2 more at 2g 7 days apart till you've covered a full brood cycle, then do a mite check, Randy Oliver sez for every mite you can see on the backs of a bee, there's 30 or more on the bellies of bees you can't see.
I use mesh floors with a correx insert board underneath , the mites drop through the mesh and can't get back into the hive body... Thanks for all the videos your great to watch. I've been keeping bees for 12 years but I still learning things from your videos... Keep up the great work 🤩✊
The damage is done to the hive already you treat before you have your winter bees should have been done in Aug.you also need to read the instructions on a mite treatment its a 42 day treatment not 30
Thanks for another video. You'll figure it out.
Also sorry that you have to move. Best of luck to you, you will be fine.
There were so many mites apivar was killing the mites that where out of the cells but you had more bees hatch with more mites should have treated last of July or fist week of Aug. Good Luck stay Strong
10 weeks you can leave apivar in the hive maximum normally wipes all mites out without issue ,
Thirty days for strips not long enough, I believe max is 50+ days put in centre so later when they cluster better exposure, plus clean off build up on strip. What Paul Kelly does ( university of Guelph) to kill the mites that are resistant , when cold out and they are clustering he uses a oxalic drip on the cluster 50 ml approximately 5 ml between each frame ( that bees you see way down frames ) and prepares hive for winter. Being end of September are you confusing winter bees ( fat bees) with long summer bees. Worked with beekeeper for 4 seasons we always moved late at night have someone designated for smoking bees. Don’t lose many and no stress being caged in when daylight. Good luck with the move always fun not!!!
Agreed, need a longer treatment period. Also I am not sure that you are adequately dosing them. If you have just 2 strip in a double brood box, that is half the recommended rate. I couldn't tell from the video how many strips you have in. You need 2 strips per brood box. Placement is aslo critical, as mentioned above.
Apivar recommends scratching the strips to increase effectiveness after 3 weeks if you have a bad infestation. This could be hard at your growing scale and with life effecting your schedule. We had 100-200 mites drop per week with Apivar and that was with a mite wash of 5 per 300 which is ~2% infestation rate so out of ~30,000 bees that still comes out to ~600 mites in the colony. Formic may be a good call if the weather cooperates. Life is full of bumps in the road hopefully things are smoother for you in the future. Good luck and thanks for sharing.
I'm sorry for your struggles, keep fighting girl. Praying for you.
Lots of advice coming your way so here's mine... IF you currently have little capped brood, it's a perfect time for using Oxalic Acid vapors to fog the hive. Little brood = most mites are on adult bees and highly susceptible to OA. I'd treat using 4g of OA treating every 3-4 days over at least 2 weeks. You'll be surprised how well that knocks down the count on your adult bees because OA does not penetrate the capped cells - but with low brood right now it'll work much better. Good luck
I have to agree that OA does have benefits but is a PITA to treat with basic equipment. I fogged my hives 2x last fall and had success through winter. I did an OA vapor 2x in August 4-5 days apart to knock down the mites while the queens were taking a break during the dearth.. I never used Apavar or Apiguard, but have considered both, I did get some Formic but not used it due to temperature. I'm not on board with treatment free but I do feed essential oils as a different form of treatment.
That is a perfect hive for OA. If you had a good vaporizer, not a wand vaporizer. A good vaporizer the next day that bottom board would be completely covered with thousands of dead mites. Every beekeeper needs a good vaporizer just for this kind of problem.
Wow that sucks that the apivar didn't work. I'm using it as well. Plus now I can't use all that drawn comb because I used apivar. It contaminated
Wishing you the best and keep you head up and moving forward .
Isn't the treatment period for apivar 42 days? Why are you checking on day 30? Are you going to pull those at day 30 now? Wouldn't you want to run a full treatment course before calling it a failure? I believe apivar is a contact treatment. The mites you're seeing could be from emerging brood. There's a reason the treatment period is 42 days.
Shouldn't you wait before applying another, different treatment?
And to think she just taught a how to bee course this last weeken🤦♂️
Great work dear
God grant you the stamina strength & wisdom to build a thriving apiary
We are also rooting for you
& Look forward to seeing you coming out strong & Better
OA Vapor 4 grams per deep every 3 days for 24 day it would be 8 treatments
Hi There Emily Why do you not have mesh floors under your hives it helps a lot with the mites?
Did you get a good OA vaporizer yet? I know a person that makes a really good one for 150.00 I have one and it works great! I used to have the wand type like you tried and I didn’t have time waiting on it just like you. I also almost set a hive on fire using it once and that was the last time I used it. If interested in a good one for 150.00 let me know and I can get you the info.
I would like to know more about that vaporizer.
October is selection time. I love it. Good riddance to bees that require treatments to perform the bare minimum.
Hey Emily, what plans did you use for those nucs? I really like the look of them, especially double nucs! Don't fret, Apivar has it's on years and off years on the power and efficacy it seems. I've used it for 5 years now in conjuction with OA. Ive had great results. But what I think is happening is it's knocking back the phoretic mites that were semi-established on the bees and then it'll catch up the ones that are emerging from brood. That's why it's in there for 50+ days to catch all those brood cycles. I definetly had better results using OA in conjuction with apivar back to back. I need to do one more mite wash before we have our first freeze. Keep your head up, you got this! I also primarily only wear a veil and sometimes gloves depending on their attitudes.
Are you ok?
Keep moving forward Emily. Better days are coming your way!
Where you moving to ?
Apivar failed me last year. Use apiguard. 25 to 30 grams once a week for 3 weeks. Why I say less than what they recommend is when you use 50 grams the risk of absconding is high.
i think formic acid didnt do it verry well. i used flumethrin for treatment in summer and in september when i treated them with amitraz by fumigation there were way less mites than you have.
Formic goes into the cell but ap.V. does not go IN THE CELL where the mite load increases. Stop that! and you take a big load of the mites getting into the cell. (stop.) Are you near some one who takes their bees south for the winter or does the migratory pollination gig? If you want to, go Mel Disselkoen IPM you need to do like he did. He went rogue and clandestine which is something not all can do. I have problems with migratory on one side and "non-open feed on another. I am at 1" entry in mid Aug to freeze to prevent robbing and planting to feed in summer. It's always switch this and dump that. I soon hope to go Dawn soap all around the hive bottom to stop ants (they don't like to cross it). Why has Varroa changed so much? Spring American elm pollen is gone. Is VHS actually part of the bees getting some thing the mites don't like? I can't test for that. I have friends that have a year round trailer at a lake that they treat with peppermint to thwart mice. They have to treat in the fall and in mid winter and a week or two before they re-inhabit in the spring. Mice don't like peppermint and vacate the premises. Can we do that to mites? Formic pro is an acid. Vinegar is a regulated acid. Will home made vinegar (more potent) thwart Varroa? Poison ivy effects a lot of people but treating with dirt or mud immediately upon exposure will often reduce or eliminate problems of reaction to exposure if treated early enough. Dirt has a way of taking oil out of the skin. We react to the oil in poison ivy. Dirt has ph or lime that absorbs poison ivy oil. Concrete mix is mostly lime and will suck skin dry of oil. Just asking and insinuating. Mel Disselkoen broke the mite breeding cycle by artificial manipulation. Bees are high on acid (ph) would baking soda (alkaline) harm them or the mites or both? Who can afford to test? Are we testing and writing the data or are we just following the data others create? I have one extractor but I can orient my comb 2 ways (vert or horiz.). Alterations to the common orientation are time consuming and a lot of work. I have seen break away bees (those that have left standard langstroth apiaries and adapted a cavity in a home or building in a floor (shallow and wide) or a wall (long and narrow) and survive several years in an area with Varroa-Destructor as a 365 resident. Do we have to kill Varroa? are honey bees their only possible place of residence or just their preferred or easiest place of residence? Can we take a really good queen from from a booming hive to break the mites breeding cycle treat that hive and a nuc or two at that same time with formic pro and then blend brood and frames and hives to bust the mite loads again all around to build for winter survival? If all but a few apiaries let their bees freeze in winter and nobody went migratory with bees and nobody bought southern packages would we really start the season without Varroa? NO! But we would eliminate the largest percentage of Varroa in the northern US and or Canada. Wild hives would still have Varroa but bear in mind wild bees may only be one swarm from apiary bees. I do not believe we can be free of Varroa if we don't all experiment and fail and succeed. Scientists need to tell us what Varroa does not like. We already know what they do like. I already know following what scientists do is not always practical for all bee keepers. I love college students but 4-8 years of college per student will not convey the general knowledge of thousands of bee keepers but students have an access to knowledge thousands of beekeepers can't get their hands on. Opinions and misplaced trust kills bees.
I am going to do an alcohol wash which I don’t really want to do but somebody said that’s more accurate I’ll give it a shot but if I do come up with mites do you recommend treating with my Apivar. I just did a mite away treatment 3 weeks ago.
Take care Emily! Really enjoying your videos .
Hod Bless !
The treatment might work but here florida lot different we cold right now
That's sucks you have to move everything. Your treatment works just need more time. Good days out weight the bad. Hang tuff don't be ashame to ask for help. Ask some land owners near you. If you can use there land for hives
i hope things get better for you much love from bosnia...
I'm so very sorry to hear about the change in your life, one door closed to have another open. Best of luck!
Anyway, I have the same opinion about Apivar strips. They work to some extent but not enough to lower the mites to acceptable amount. It could be paired with another treatment, but definitely not meant to be the sole solution to mite.
Praying for you. Jesus can help in everything!
I tried Apivar and it failed me completly I saw where it failed the Canadian Bee keeper also and he has 1,500 hives
The electric fogger that was given you is a joke if you have more than two hives. Mine is propane and 10 times faster than electric, Plus no cables or battery.
Should have pulled the brood that would have took out 80% hit them with oav then drop the apivar.. your only halfway way thru the treatment .. colony's get infested like that need to get aggressive... Formic will probably send them over the edge just abscond ... Winter bees are smaller
Keep strong we all have been there..xx
In an extreme case like this you could try removing what little brood is left and tossing it. Afterwards treat the bee's with oxalic acid in vapor form. All the mites will be exposed leaving them vulnerable. Then you could give them a pollen sub patty and syrup. Good luck.
I would hit them hard with oxalic acid if that formic treatment does not work well. I would would double the dose and use it every three to five days for at least eight treatments.
I wanted to comment on your recent video on oxalic acid. I do think your battery was low. I use a small 12 volt battery for lawn mowers and it works really well plus its lighter than a car battery. I use the wand vaporizer and it will heat up within a minute or two. Its good for a few hives but when you have more than eight hives a ProVap 110 vaporizer works best.
Another great video and I hope things get better for you.
Requires 6 weeks to be effective.
You would be surprised how many people will let you keep bees on their land for free or for honey!
You might not have to buy property. You can try seeing who wouldn't mind bees on their property. Even the top of a commercial building.
I like you your samil
Your video is good u did good I am sorry about all the mites most likely that hive is going to die in the winter I hope moving your bees works out well for u just a thought if u have a vap u might hit them with OA V at least it will kill the mites on the bees.. I hope things get better for you. God Bless and have a good week dont give up.
If you don't have a lot of brood you can use OA vape too. I hope your life goes up from here. Love you girl. The reason why you have a lot of mites on bees is because the mites can't go in brood because you don't have any brood. Maybe look for a beekeeping grant. I wouldn't use formic this time of year, it may kill the queen. My favorite treatments are hopguard 3, every two weeks 3 times. I use that in top bar hives. Apiguard or OA. I also give my bees hive alive , vitamine c and amino B booster. Vutamine C helps with the viruses.
Emily, it's so great to see you mature as a beekeeper. I was really concerned about that treatment free path you were on. Looks like you've turned a corner. Please, please, please don't get discouraged if you lose alot of colonies this winter. Ian Steppler lost 39 of 40 colonies in his early years. I was annoyed by your youthful exuberance (actually youtful inexperience) but now I'm hoping you don't lose that as you grow into a great beekeeper . I just started posting videos on my channel after two or three years as a beekeeper (Phillip Morse RTXhoneybees). I'm not as brave as you are to put myself out there from the beginning. Thank you for taking us along on your adventure.
If the brood is already down, why not use AO 3x on a 10 day schedule. The reason there’s new infestation is the eggs were already infested under the caps.
Don't count on Apivar to do a thing to your mite loads. I used Apivar three years ago on summer mites. My loads were 3 per 100. After using Apivar was removed a waited a week and tested again. My loads went up to 4 per 100. I quickly used another method that dropped my mites.
Last summer I tried Apivar one more time. I went into the hives with mite loads of 4 per 100. When I retrieved the strips and tested for mites my loads went up to 6 per 100. I immediately put on Formic Acid for a hard hit on the mites. It took the mite loads to almost zero. My queens continued to lay and everything was just fine.
Remember that Apivar is a manmade chemical which mites become immune in a short time. It happened with Apistan and Check mite.
I'm now using Formic Acid when the weather is working for me. In winter I hit the colonies with Oxalic Acid. Then I'm done until the next fall. My mite loads have been controlled with this method this past year. I'll likely continue the program and use a third method such as Apiguard for a summer treatment.
The issue I have in Kentucky we have record heat. I only want apiary to control my mites till I can treat with a temperature sensitive mite treatment. I have Alpigard. bought as well as formic acid. If I don’t get mites under control I won’t have bees in September, because of virus transfer I will lose many hive in December/ January because of sick bees. Beekeeper need another non temperature sensitive mite treatment
@@davidcassity6593 Agreed. But I guess it's going to take time.
Once the Oxalic acid slow release is approved it can help to maintain lower mite loads.
Ur Amazing, Emily you Really are💛Like u said social media especially tends to only share the flashy and Happy go lucky posts but here u are taking us along and your journey, ur Real journey, through the ups and downs and that my friend takes Courage it really does, I have so much respect for you and am Always here for u in any way you may need. Sorry about the move thats gotta be stressful and I wish I could help but hey U being a property owner is Huge u can never go wrong with that so Yay! Hey how's the weather been there? I heard about a giant cold front in ur neck of the country🥶Well Thank U for another Amazing video my friend, you take care of yourself and ur winged and furry friends, see U in the next one my Favorite Keeper, lots of love, Emily👑🐝💛#emilyisthebeesknees #myfavoritekeeper #holysmokes #beefitbeekeeping #beefithoney #perfectlyimperfect💛
I would use the term “treatment less” than treatment free. You are doing a great job of monitoring the mites. That has to continue and if a hive gets in trouble you’ll have to intervene and treat. We as beekeepers have been looking for a silver bullet for mites for decades and not found one. Breeding will help. Natural means will help(ie brood breaks through splits or caging queens for a time and using OA vaporizer, green drone frames, ect). But IMO “treatment free” boarder lines of abuse of livestock.
I appreciate your honesty and I just lost my beloved sister a month ago. I feel your struggle! Sending you LOVE ooxox
Apivar works great, but you need to leave it on the hive at least 50 days. If you don't that is how the bees become resistant. I usually leave it on about 60 days.
An end to one thing is a new beginning for a new thing. No matter what. It's not always bad.
If Lucy has low brood, then a perfect time to do an OAV treatment mites would not be hiding under the capped brood. The mites on the bottom board could have been there for awhile. I use screened bottom boards, so just have to clean the insert before treatment then look in a few days to see the results.
Emily take a breath🌬take 5 minutes just breathing, it's called 🐝fever🤒it happens to most of us at some point in our keeper life time.🥵😵💫🥶Step back and take 3 spoon fulls of🍯and call you mentor in the😴morning.😜
A jacket and jeans in most cases are more then enough, full suits have their place but seem a pain.
Wow you got mite girls, I I'm not sure strips have been long enough for full drop effect. Get your a OA-vaperizer they are GREAT for knock down kill rate, BLAST the crap out the mites and run them through a few rounds of treatment.
Are you planning to become a professional beekeeper, Emily? I mean 100 hives is quite a lot of work (I know what I´m talking about because I do struggle with my 30 hives)!?😊
Praying for you Little Foot
I really enjoy watching, but you are providing very misleading information. You can’t call it a review of Apivar and not follow the directions.
Apivar is a 6 week treatment. You are treating the brood as it emerges,the nurse bees caring for the eggs and larvae and foragers die off. They don’t travel through the brood enough to get any help from the strips. Results get better with time. Bees get resistance from using the product improperly.
Stay off social media, work smart and leave the hard work to the bees.
42 days, 52 days treatment
Formic will work. Monitoring mites is a good strategy.
I wish you the best on your personal situation.
I told you to OAV that colony then OAE it if you want save Lucy stop worrying about what's legal, if save the bees and don't allow them to infest your other colonies, who gives a rats azz.