In message <[log in to unmask]>, Tim
Vaughan <[log in to unmask]> writes
>I treat in Oct.- Nov. and sometimes it's 80 degrees F outside.
Hot for us!!
> Do
>you or anyone else think I would run a risk treating my bees with this
>product?
No risks have been reported to my knowledge. I have seen "beards"
forming if a nuc was given a full treatment and some bees hanging
outside for a few days after a treatment. I now put the Apiguard to the
side of the nest. I also prefer to put it on a plastic sheet now (I use
tubs and vary the dose to suit the colony size).
> And what do people who have used it over a long period think of
>it's effectivity?
I have not used it long enough. My strategy is to treat when needed, and
I am still feeling my way to establish the critical levels of mite, as
indicated by mite numbers, which require treatment. Leaving it too late,
as already posted, ensures that the spring bees are diminished through
losses to viruses and brood damage is intensified. I am hoping that as
the years go by and breeding concentrates valuable characters, that the
frequency of treatment drops. I am still checking and I have found one
colony which might be marginal (500 mites in a month) so a second
opinion based on the next mite count will establish if I have to try a
different treatment, or wait till the weather warms (soon or perhaps in
February) and give it a dose. I would have to rely on a lower
effectiveness if the temperature didn't get to the magic 15C which gets
evaporation going well adding to the dispersal by the bees (it was about
11C today and bees were flying in the sun) and then give the second
recommended treatment in spring.
--
James Kilty

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