Hey, Jason. I didn’t do a construction video, but I can do a walk through video on how I did it. Thanks for the idea. Mike

Hey Brett, I had heard there was a local importer about a year ago, but never confirmed. I bought both mine directly from allmybees.com. The online shop doesn't include international shipping, but Tony will quote for you if you email him [email protected] with your details. The shipping cost is a killer, but worth it. Mike

Yep looked into it NZ 1250.00 WERE 1500.00 TO 1600.00 PLUS SHIPPING CHEERS FOR YA TIME.

I have heard some horror stories about Chinese equipment, but most of my experiences have been good. I think I was lucky to choose AccTek. The build quality is very good and support has been good too. Obviously, support is remote only, so it involves some back and forward emails to sort out problems. I've only required support once for a simple self induced problem. The machine is consistent and reliable. I really cannot fault it. The high priced European and American made machines come with training and guides for different applications. The Chinese machines do not. It's a process of experimentation to work out the settings that work best for any given situation. You are on your own to figure it out. The other thing is to choose the machine for the task. My CW laser is good at brute force removal of heavy rust and can adjust down to gentle applications such as paint removal from sheet metal, but its not great at that. It can overheat sheet metal really quickly if you're not careful. Pulsed laser is much better at those sorts of jobs. You might need to have separate machines for each task if you do both. I'm not a professional, so I don't use my laser everyday. I have talked with pros who are doing very well with their AccTek machines and have bought more lasers with custom specifications. It's a niche that can be very profitable, once you know your machines. Safety wise, lasers are lasers no matter the brand. You must wear appropriate PPE. Glasses to protect against reflected laser flash, appropriate mask to protect your lungs(I use a powered mask suitable for welding fumes) and a fume extractor. I don't use a fume extractor, but use a blower. I'm on acres, but if you work anywhere around people a fume extractor is a must. Mike

Thanks for watching. Yes, they use oxalic acid sublimation last thing going into winter. Formic acid when there’s brood in spring/summer. When varroa first hit them, there was no knowledge so they learned from scratch. We’re lucky in Australia to have decades of other beekeeper experience from which to learn.

@@AussieMikesBees I am in UK so we've not had Varroa Destructor (I almost shortened that to VD but thought I'd better not ;-) ) as long as central Europe. We've had the little mite since 1992 if memory serves me right.. I lost lots of colonies initially butit's got better over the years thanks to improved stock. Now you have them, I suppose your strict quarantine laws will work against you (prevent you from importing VSH stock)? Maybe you could import drone semen from VSH lines and inseminate queens?

Yes, there is strict controls on importing semen and queens. We haven't found DWV yet and the fear is that it will be imported accidently with genetic material. Most of my reading suggests we're better to work on producing out own varroa resistance. I like Randy Oliver's approach where he selects for gentleness, then productiveness and finally for low mite counts. He leaves it to the bees to keep those count low instead of micromanaging them.

​@@AussieMikesBees There are several videos on KZbin where Dr John Harbo describes the method they used to develop VSH. He posits that VSH can be developed in any population so you should be able to develop it there too. Good Luck

Definitely. The queen breeders' association and university researchers have teamed up to move forward. We had a meeting researchers and industry representatives in Canberra (Australian Capital) to work out where to direct the limited money to get the biggest bang and to avoid duplication. Interesting times.

Yes, as far as chemical options go, these are preferable. Unfortunately OA is not yet registered and only FormicPro is registered in Australia. The labelled dosage of 1g in other countries has proved to be ineffective and a paper by Cameron Jack/Jamie Ellis shows that 2G, 3G and 4g doses are very efficacious without unduly stressing the bees. But again, that’s off label and illegal. Even with science on our side, we are deemed criminals for caring for our bees. At least with the Varroa Controller, there is no legal impediment.

@AussieMikesBees it is indeed ineffective, most people use 2-3g per brood box without any damages. Are you guys on a threat to be exposed to tropilaelaps. It seems to be propagating through multiple new countries with recently Georgia.

@blackberry5908, tropilaelaps is on our doorstep and very concerning. No incursions yet, but it only takes one breach. My understanding is that the varroa treatments will likely control it. At this stage, I’ll focus on dealing with varroa and when or if tropilaelaps reaches us, adapt to that new reality.

Hello, Jorgo. I’m in Australia about 50miles NW of Sydney. You’re certainly welcome to visit, but you’ll find someone in the US much closer. There are several US based Face Book groups and some suppliers of imported and locally produced AŽ hives. In Australia, it’s not so easy. Shipping costs are ridiculously high and there’s no local manufacturers. I’m in the process of setting up to make them for sale using Langstroth sized AŽ frames so we can use standard foundation and extraction equipment. I’m hoping to have all my bees changed over to Slovenian hives this summer, February. I do presentations on Slovenian beekeeping at bee clubs and there’s a lot of interest in changing over. Much easier on the back. Cheers, Mike

@@AussieMikesBees ok, thank you very much for your help, let me know if you find somebody here

This one is 1200mm or about 48”. I haven’t filled it though.

Thanks, Anton. Yes, they’re such an easy swarm catching tool and take up no space in the car ready for action. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for your comment, Gabriel. The capital outlay is out of the reach of many hobbyists, but is viable when a club buys it for members to hire for a small fee. There are many commercial beekeepers in Europe using them and being chemical free, command a higher price for their honey. They do three treatments a year, don’t have to remove supers and if necessary can treat repeatedly without concern of chemical resistance or harming bees. As always, it’s a business decision each individual makes for their operation. One size never fits all.

Not sure where you heard that. Apis cerana so far is only in the Cairns area. It was from a single colony and every colony caught and tested since is the same genetic line. This is good news because eventually inbreeding will doom them unless they meet up with a new incursion.. There’s been no Varroa destructor found in any of the colonies so far. The varroa outbreak in NSW is suspected to have been on illegally imported Apis mellifera queens. There hasn’t been any detection of DWV. Untreated colonies are perishing within six months from the massive infestation levels. Some washes have hundreds of mites.

Thanks for your comment. Australia is such a small market, there is little interest from suppliers spending the huge fees to register their products. So far, FormicPro and Apiguard are the only non-synthetic options. Of course, beekeepers are doing what they can to keep their bees healthy, so many are using oxalic acid and formic acid illegally. I’m lobbying government to amend the legislation to include an own use exemption clause so that beekeepers can use unregistered organic options on their own bees.

Thanks for your questions, Amanda. The Australian distributor has the first shipments on the way. Check out www.varroacontrolleraustralia.com.au for information and pricing.

Regarding financial assistance to deal with Varroa, no. We’re on our own now. The only money offered was reimbursement for destroyed hives during the eradication phase. There is education through in person one day workshops and online materials.

Thanks for your comments. Yes a generator silencer could be a thing, though with a long enough extension lead the noise is not noticable. The lead is reasonably long to ensure the exhaust fumes don't bother the bees. The idea of resistance is intriguing. Do you mean the varroa becoming heat resistant or the bees? I don't see the varroa becoming resistant, considering their death interferes with reproduction and therefore mutation. As for the bees, the queen is not placed in the Varroa Controller. The intended treatment target is worker pupae. Even if other pupae were treated, it only happens once in their life. I wouldn't think a single exposure is enough to cause a genetic mutation. I'm not a scientist though.

Do you mean permanently heating the hive? That’s been tried before. The bees do their thing to reduce the temperature.

@@AussieMikesBees No. Just that the hardware could be installed on each hive semi permanently. Perhaps as a new base design or deep. A heater, temperature control, and blower to distribute the heat through the hive. It could have a timer that turns it on per a schedule, or could be operated manually. The main point though being that you don't have to dismantle the hives and move things around at great effort and higher risk to the bees. The whole hive can be done at once. If you have more than a few hives, the method here seems it would be somewhat tedious. Independent heaters eliminates that issue.

Ok, I understand. The problem remains that all attempts to heat hives with bees in them have failed because the bees go into overdrive to bring the temperature back to 35C. Unless the temperature can be sustained at 41.5C for two hours, the mites survive. If the temperature reaches 44C, the bees start dying.

@@AussieMikesBees I would guess it would only take a few hundred watts to heat a hive up, and overpower anything the bees could do. You close it up though and initiate it manually. It would definitely need a good fan as the temperature range is pretty narrow and it would need to be distributed pretty evenly. The temp sensor would probably need to be placed near the top to make sure it didn't get too hot vs lower down, and maybe another (at least during test trials) in the bottom box to verify it got hot enough. Add a 400W solar panel and a controller to cycle each hive once per month and now we have a commercial product.

Thanks for your comment.

Thanks. Those are Italian. They’re mostly well behaved and very productive.

While it’s true that most will choose a perhaps easier, chemical option, there are European beekeepers treating hives three times a year with only this device. No chemicals. At this stage, two containers of these have been sold to Australians before reaching the port.

Thanks, Allan. It had to happen eventually. Just another layer to keeping bees.

Yes, the AFB endospores are super resilient with their three layers of protection making it almost impossible to destroy. But before the Paenibacillus bacteria can be released, the endospore must find its way into a young larva’s cell along with six or more of its kin. The odds of any endospores being transferred from the stainless steel frame hangers to a cell is so remote that the risk is as good as zero. If, on the other hand, one or more of the brood frames contains infected cells, then it’s on the beekeeper to see it when inspecting the frame before placing in the Varroa Controller and taking necessary action. In Australia, that means incineration of the hive.

You use oxalic acid vapors while honey supers are on...

@blackberry5908 it was fda approved for use with supers on recently.

OH, YEAH! Hit us like a ton of bricks.

The ten frame model is smaller and lighter, but still a little hefty. I've ordered one and will do some videos on it.

Ja! Die svitchen ist for eine finger mit gauken lookers aus of die vay, sitten in silencen!

Thanks for the comment, Jordan. How many people have a thousand hives in one apiary? To me, it’s a per apiary treatment plan. You might have a few hundred hives, any single apiary has 50. With a single Varroa Controller, one person could treat 30 hives in a day. Larger apiaries could be handled by two or more VCs.

Thanks, Francine and great question. The dribble is on the bees between the frames so it directly contacts most bees as it dribbles down.

@@AussieMikesBees Thanks Mike

Thanks for watching and your kind words of encouragement.

Anything we do for the next few years is going to be time consuming and expensive. Even the low material cost of oxalic acid sublimation (not yet legal here) is labour intensive in that it requires treatment every five days for five treatments to cover the brood cycle. If your apiary is on a flow 250km away, that’s 2500km of travel. Could workout if it coincides with taking the supers for harvest. With the Varroa Controller, spend a day treating the apiary with multiple machines to cover all hives. Do health checks while you’re at it. In Europe it’s done this way once each in spring, summer and autumn., which is three days work per apiary per year and no chemical costs. If they use the Duplex Framebox, that would require an extra day a couple of weeks ahead of treatment to set the queen up with two frames, so six days work per apiary per season. It will be much more here for a few years until varroa levels stabilise.

@MinkaMint-t1h thanks for your comment. Until we have mite resistant bees, we do what we have to, but this looks like a good option to me.

Thanks, Albee. I don’t know if there’s a US distributor, but if you go to the Euro site, they’ll either ship direct or put you in touch with your nearest distributor varroa-controller.com/varroa-controller/

meinst du im Vergleich zum österreichischen Preis?

Thanks, Kevin. Yes, beekeepers like to stand in the shot. It would be great if there was a locally made equivalent, but as a business model it would be risky. The market here is still tiny and it costs quite a bit to set up for manufacturing. You’d have to be careful not to infringe on any patents, too. Does anyone make anything here anymore. I would be suspicious of any Chinese product?

@@AussieMikesBees…I absolutely agree with you , what a great product, I think maybe the only thing that might be a bump in the road is the price of these machines , hobby bee keepers may not afford these for a few hives , just my thoughts on it but is a fantastic way of controlling the veroa mite for sure.

@fishmut thanks. It is pricey and out of reach of most hobby beekeepers. That's why I think it will work well to have the bee club buy it and rent it out to members. That's what my local club will do. When the members saw it in action, it was a no brainer. Just have to be patient waiting for it to ship in from Austria.

Yes, it is more time consuming than some other treatment methods. Though, the idea of treating an apiary within one day is appealing. Not having to take supers away, return them later and coming back to remove strips saves time. I know some treatments can be done with supers on, but can taint the flavour. I’m looking forward to testing and collecting data when I get mine.

It is a large capital outlay, but if you’re in beekeeping for the long term, the cost per hive per treatment is reasonable. The original machines are still in use 14years later, so it reliable. Divide the number of treatments done over 14 years compared to cost of chemical treatments in Australia. We’ll be treating almost non-stop until the mite levels stabilise, driving up the cost of chemical treatments. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the cost of a capital purchase is quickly forgotten, but an ongoing expense is an ongoing reminder of costs.

Great question. I don't know anything about incubators. The ones I've seen are for hatching chicken eggs and appear to control temperature and humidity. Maybe you can adapt one to work with frames of brood. I'm sure there will be beekeepers go down that path and I'd love to see what they come up with. The market for egg incubators is huge, so the market demand brings costs down. The Varroa Controller has a small market and is made in Austria. Shipping from Austria is very expensive and slow, driving the cost up.

@AussieMikesBees I build my own incubators, and I don't see much difference. Also, having layens hives, I can't use this because it looks like a langstroth.

That’s great. That’s not my area of expertise, so I wouldn’t attempt it, but I’d be interested to hear how yours goes. Varroa Controller have a deep model that I believe takes Layens frames.

Yes, I agree. Having bees that take care of mite levels will be a blessing. It’s going to take time for those genetics to develop. It’s taken Randy Oliver seven years of selective breeding and flooding his area with his genetics by giving queens to all his neighbouring beekeepers to reach a stage where mite counts are consistently low. It will take Aussie breeders years to reach that stage. Letting all the colonies die and breeding from survivor stock would decimate an important industry. That won’t happen. Hobby beekeepers can try it, but until mite levels stabilise I think they’ll be replacing colonies time and again. In the meantime, I’ll do what is necessary to keep my bees healthy.

Thanks for the information. There’s been a lot of work on hyperthermia for decades, but we don’t hear much about it in the west. I had the same thought about using oxalic acid sublimation on the hive while the brood frames are in the machine. OA is still illegal here, so it would be necessary to break the law. Wiping out all the mites in the cells is 80% or more of the mites, so already very effective. Doing another treatment as soon as the treated brood emerges will take out most of what is left.

@@AussieMikesBees It is a pity that organic acids are illegal in Australia. They do not accumulate in anything (neither in honey, nor in wax, nor in hive materials), they disappear without a trace in a couple of days, unlike heavier chemicals like amitraz. Without them, of course, all these measures have an extremely short-term effect. We can only hope for quick improvements at the legislative level. I wish you good health, good honey harvests and healthy bee colonies and success in general.

@@zhenyab I agree with you. I’m lobbying to have our legislation amended to include a New Zealand style “Own Use Exemption “ clause that would allow beekeepers to treat there own bees with products, delivery methods and doses that are proved safe and effective, but might be not registered or the registration hasn’t kept up with best practices.

Thanks, Francine. I've ordered the 10frame model. I think it would be a good topic for my University of Florida Master Craftsman Beekeeper research project. Our club will probably order one after a committee meeting decision to hire out. Everyone at the field day demonstration were keen to be chemical free. I think the club ownership model will work well. I'm committed to changing over to Slovenian hives redesigned with Langstroth sized frames. It's a very gentle way to keep bees for the bees and the keeper. I'm setting up to manufacture them for the Aussie market and hopefully get them installed in some schools. It's the most accessible system for people who can't lift heavy boxes, even those in wheelchair. The adult bees in the hive just hang out in the open space. I've seen the same thing when I take a frame or two to put in display boxes for a few hours. They don't have enough time to start building comb.

Thanks for that Mike

Thanks for your comment and insight. I look forward to the time when three times a year works. At the moment, we are seeing almost instant reinfestation during the establishment phase which has been predicted to last up to three years from initial infestation. Though they did predict that without DWV here, it would take up to two years for a colony to collapse. It is in fact taking only six months in many cases. Within days of removing treatment strips, washes show 20 to 50 mites in some areas. Most of NSW have no brood breaks and good flows almost year round. Forcing brood breaks or restricting laying to two frames could become standard practice. Many of the treatments available elsewhere aren't being registered. We're a tiny market, so it would take too long to get a return on the costs. We don't even have OA yet, though there are two OA products undergoing registration . There are of course, plenty of beekeepers using OA anyway.

I appreciate your lack of chemicals...but this is very time consuming...Formic acid is used in nature ..Fire ants.. and Formic pro and mite away quick strips can be used with supers on .

​@@AussieMikesBees The government better stop procrastinating on allowing organic treatments. There is NO time to waste for the profits of their chemical mafia. The mites coming right back after treatments mean your bees are robbing dying mite infested colonies. Obviously a real mite disaster. Seems they dont care since they wont let beekeepers manage it safely.

I hear ya. Unfortunately, Australia is very much a nanny state. Bureaucrats believe they know how you should live your life better than you do. There are many beekeepers treating with OA illegally. We do what we have to do to care for our bees.

I’m interested to read your research. How many hives in the research, how many control hives, how many were tested at what temperatures for what periods of time? How was the health of the bees and pupae determined post treatment. With the hives in this video, all the brood emerged within five days. There were no piles of dead bees out the front, like I’ve seen with FormicPro. Inside the hives there were loads of healthy looking, active young bees.

Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Yes, I agree. Aussies have the opportunity to learn from everyone that have dealt with Varroa for decades. Unfortunately, many organic treatment options are not yet registered, so their use here is illegal. Many are doing it anyway. I am lobbying government to amend the legislation to include a New Zealand style “Own Use Exemption “ clause that would allow beekeepers to use effective, safe but unregistered products on their own hives. This would allow them to care for their bees without breaking the law. In the meantime, I’m open to ideas from all angles. I like the idea of zero chemicals and hyperthermia looks good to me. I’ll do a series of videos when mine arrives in nine weeks.

Mites are certainly not a major problem to most beekeepers in the UK, just another part of bee husbandry. The most used treatment in the UK is a traditional wood cleaner and not authorised either due to greedy companies charging a fortune for a product that costs pence but is widely used, with care.

@@pipthedog11 thanks for your comment. Eventually it will be a normal part of bee husbandry here too. In the meantime, those that adapt will still be beekeepers and those that don’t, won’t. There are many that have made no effort to learn, let alone do anything. I’ll absorb everything I can get my eyes on and try things out. I’ve ordered one of these devices and will be keeping a record of the practically of its use and efficacy. This is the first time it will be put to the test in an unstable establishment phase. My obsession is unstoppable. I actually find varroa an incredibly fascinating bug. Hate them of course, but sooo interesting.

@@AussieMikesBees Although I wouldn’t wish this pest on anyone, Australia is lucky that the majority of the world now has this pest and there is a vast amount of research to alleviate the damage this pest can do if ignored. I would urge anyone who wants to follow Mike Palmer who has, for me been a lead in practical advice for beekeepers and bee farmers.

We're also lucky that we don't yet have DWV. Yes, Michael Palmer has very good sustainable beekeeping strategies. One of the good ones from which to learn.

Thanks for commenting, Alex. If someone came up with a device like that and it did no harm to anything else, they’d find instant fame and fortune. In the meantime, we do what we can until mite resistant bees become normal. I like the Varroa Controller’s zero chemical approach.

@@AussieMikesBees If Cuba has might resistant bees why not to take from there? Actually, the bees can be taken later if needed. It might worth trying to get our own in Australia.

We’re lucky for now that we don’t have the viruses, such as Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) yet. There is the very high risk of importing viruses with sperm and queens. Also, the most successful breeding programs for varroa resistance comes from local stock that is already adapted to local conditions. Imported genetics may succumb to local conditions or strains of diseases they’re not adapted to. There has been breeders working on varroa resistance here even before varroa showed up, so we’re not starting from scratch. It’ll still take time, though.

Good question, Jack. There is a model with more depth that I believe accomodates Layens frames.

Here in Spain layens rules the way under the sun, but the world industry is focused on langstroth indeed

I have heard of the Cuba story and its great that it worked for them. In Australia, there are so many dependant industries, there's no way they would allow 90% losses. During the eradication phase, businesses were destroyed and people on suicide watch.

@@AussieMikesBees It's not an eradication phase. Hives that were not already resistant to Varroa, died. Then they bred from the survivors. The African bees that it came from were resistant for millennia.

Yes, I understand that. I was referring to the Australian varroa eradication program before declaring that varroa is now endemic.

Can you please refer the name of the Irish beekeeper using the heat treatment as I’m hoping to begin a research project on organic varroa treatment and Irish AMM honeybee varroa resistance (SMR/VSH) breeding in Ireland. A growing number of Irish beekeepers rely solely on OA and Thymol/Apiguard treatments combined with brood breaks and drone removal to control varroa effectively as there are far too many downsides to Apivar/synthetic miticide treatments in addition to the inevitable occurrence of synthetic miticide resistance.

Never mind …I’m guessing it’s Andy Antonov of Irish Bees… literally the only 2 videos of his that I had not watched!🤦‍♂️ Andy is a very clever innovative beekeeper who saved my bacon when I began beekeeping last year but tbh I don’t think I’m brave enough for some of his advanced methods just yet so I’ll stick to my winter OA vapour treatment and Summer OA & thymol/Apiguard treatments for now!😅

I run singles, so not an issue for me. If it’s done when doing an inspection anyway, it’s not much more effort. You do have to lift the boxes again to return the frames, but is that any more effort than returning weeks later to remove strips and potentially return supers?

The moment varroa came to you, it's game over. You can't stop it, no one can, it's impossible. Greetings from a beekeeper from Europe.

Once it has made it into the feral bee population it becomes impossible to contain. The Australian bush is enormous. We cannot even control the cane toad and they, are by comparison, far easier to see 🥸