Treating with Apiguard - they are on the porch tonight!

[tlynn]

My strong hive has been overrun with Varoroa...there have been hundreds of DWV bees crawling around on the ground and mite counts have been high.  I got Apiguard and a spacer from Dadant and put a tray in the hive today and when I got home tonight I found bees clustered on the entrance, not really bearding, but kind of filling out the space.  It's maybe upper 60s and normally they would all be inside.  I removed their food super today so I don't know if they are just more compact or is the Apiguard running them out.  Has this happened with anybody using Apiguard?

[tlynn]

Just checked them and the whole front face of the hive is covered in bees, sort of an upside down beard.  It's low 60s and supposed to be around 78 today so I am not concerned about temps right now.  Would they still run from the Apiguard and freeze if temps got too low?

[BjornBee]

I would not be concerned. They don't like the stuff, and it's an indication that at least you have enough vapors that it's working. The strongest part of the application will be the first couple days then the strength will slowly decline. This can be seen with the thymol products as well as the acid treatments.

Some have said that a colony could abscond. But I donated hives years ago to the state to test the product when this stuff was still in the testing phase, and I never had one colony leave due to the treatments.

[tlynn]

True.  I can smell it standing 5 or 6 feet from the hive.  Luckily the weather will be warm all week.  The instructions said in wintering hives, one 25 gm dose would be sufficient.  I am never quite sure to categorize hives in Florida in this way.  With 70s all week do you think I should stick with that or do the two doses?

[BjornBee]

I'd stick with what you got for now. It's strong enough they do not want to be inside the hive. No use in pushing it for now. You can always hit them again later.

[kathyp]

the reason you do two treatments is to get through an entire brood cycle.  the best time to do a full treatment is when you do not have a nectar flow and will not be expecting to keep anything the bees put away during treatment.

the timing on using apiguard is different for all of us.  you will have to use your best judgment on how long to treat.  maybe talk to some other beekeepers in your area?  my thought would be that if you have a heavy mite load and no flow, this would be a perfect time to do a full treatment.  you probably do not ever have a full break in your brood cycle with the warm temps.