Effectiveness of varroa treatment

[kaihoka]

I opened my hive after last inspection 4 weeks ago .
They looked fine then but I was suspicious about the drop in entrance activity.
I had treated with bayvarol for 8 weeks over april may.
I saw bees with deformed wings and varroa in brood.
So I treated hives with vapouriser while I waited for apivar to arrive.
For the past couple of yrs I had been using ox strips .
I went back to my old bayvarrol regime this autumn.
I was suprised to see all the varroa .
There is no chance of reinvasion from other hives.
I have never had this trouble in spring before .

 

[Dansar]

Using Apivar in 3/4 depth boxes is no different than FD boxes.

Just place the strips in at an angle (at least in the bottom box). Top box the strips can hang down through to the bottom box.
This discussion has been had many times. Don’t over think it, FOB = frames of bees. More than 5 frames use two strips per box. If the colony is expanding into the second brood box add two strips (remember a frame of brood when emerged will cover at least two frames. Or be prepared to add extra strips as the colony expands.
Location, location, location! Place the strips in the centre of the brood nest, where the most contact is made. The chemical is spread throughout the colony via bees that have contacted the strips.
Move the strips if the brood nest moves. Sometimes, especially early spring colonies can reduce in size due to die off of older bees and a strip can end up swinging in mid air with no contact with the colony. Or the colony simply move away from a strip.
Regular inspection is important- every 2-3 weeks would see you have 3-4 inspections before strips are removed.
Apivar is a 10 week treatment in New Zealand. Don’t be surprised if your colony fails if you remove strips at 6 weeks.