>This year I did several things different, though. I added tymol to the feed in 
late summer and fall. I also treated with both Tylosin and OTC several times 
since I am not producing honey. I also put on Apivar when I discovered that 
I had a BIG problem. It was money wasted, it seems.
 
 We had trouble with Apivar when it was first introduced in New Zealand.  Commercial beekeepers found it didn’t work and lost hives.
 
 Their research scientist to visit and he told us how it works:    The active ingredient has to come out of the strip so there’s only a 50% knock down initially unlike Apistan when basically all mites on the bees are knocked down in the first couple of days.
The efficacy of the chemical builds slowly so that it reached a peak in 6 weeks.  Any wet days or day when there is high humidity in the hive breaks down the Amitraz so it doesn’t work for that day.
 
We found that we had to put in another treatment to reduce mite numbers when there were very high (3- 5,000 – the days before we got viruses) before putting in the Apivar.    He also suggested that we reposition strips after four weeks as the bees tended to move away from them making the treatment less effective.
 
Once we learnt how to use it, (place the strips in early and against the outside brood so the bees have to contact the strip), it works fine.
 
Frank Lindsay
NZ
  		 	   		  
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