Is Apivar Enough? (Mite Kill Results)

[@BeesNTrees47]

I think what is most difficult about assessing the efficacy of mite treatments is the fact that 85% or less mite drop is insufficient. I think our best bet is multiple types of treatments used in conjunction at multiple times throughout the season. That way if there is a resistant mite that arises, we can vanquish it with the other variety of treatment. And not just 2 types of treatment, multiple different kinds of treatments used in different rotations each season. We really need to battle these mites and not give them a single foothold. All things considered, I think you have demonstrated the efficacy of OA vapor and apivar. Thanks for all your efforts. I will get some apivar for next season to add to my rotations. I hope to have at least 4-5 types of treatments I can cycle through at some point. I am beginning to think that 10 frame double deeps are needlessly brutal. I think your bee barns are better for the bees and the keepers. Lifting one large frame sounds a lot better than lifting an entire 10 frame deep. Once you factor in trying not to hurt any bees, trying to replace a 10 frame deep without crushing bees sometimes feels hopeless. Thanks always, for the inspiration.

[@vinofarm]

💯

[@jtelander]

I agree. I also think it is important to monitor mite loads regularly. Our State Apiary Inspectors recommend mite counts every 6 weeks as well as mite counts after each treatment because we can't assume that treatments work.

[@beesybee8921]

I tried apivar but the problem is that the chemical absorbs by the beeswax and mite get resistance to it in the long run, most beekeepers in CAlifornia uses amitraz based treatments and with the toxicity etc i use more labor intence but organic treatment (Oxalic acid doesnt leave residue in the hive and organic, i want to eat my own honey without amitraz)

[@emmanouilkounenakis5336]

Μετάφραση..ελληνικά.

[@Mandren]

I love your editing over multiple days. Whenever I see a new video from you it's very exciting. Thanks for the continuing bee sagas!

[@jonathanjuurlink]

I second this. Seeing a couple weeks progress in one video is very nice.

[@budgiebreder]

Third! Your videos are awesome!!!

[@johnabbottphotography]

I believe that he shoots a lot of bee roll. (ducking the incoming tomatoes!)

[@johnabbottphotography]

(Mite drop!)

[@budgiebreder]

@@johnabbottphotography these are too good! I just had to come back and bee here for them!

[@oscarcaraan810]

Love how the videos are coming weekly again. It is nice to see the hive maintenance and expansion. Oh yeah, you do what works for your beeyard.

[@sidelinerbeekeeper]

Happy to see you go with more strips than less, 3 vs 2. Apivar is bad mouthed as becoming resistant but is constantly used under strength because it's expensive. Not many account for mites hiding under brood and the natural diminishing strength of apivar over time while that brood emerges, top it off with an initial under strength treatment and they have "resistance" . All treatments are better with less brood, fall is the best time of year to use apivar.

[@amiiboplush2177]

This is great confirmation on choosing Apivar this fall to treat going into winter. This year was our first year with two hives. Acquired from two local beekeepers in Farmington Valley CT. Both did great and we had used Hopguard in the Spring. Anecdotally, it’s worked well but we didn’t do a mite count. Started Apivar last week and are seeing great result in reducing mite load. Want to give you a great amount of thanks Jim! Vicariously, you’ve been our mentor through these videos. Great stuff and enjoy the fall!

[@christopherhandy9569]

In my opinion your results speaks for itself. Great information. Glad you posted your early results.

[@timothyodonnell8591]

Jim- now that you have gone almost a full season using wood varieties as the hive names, I have to say I don't miss the prior naming convention as much as I thought I would. Now, instead of seeing each hive as a family, I see each hive as a team, with the mascot being the variety of wood. (Go team Maple!) Together, the hives make a league. The queen bee is the head coach / manager / GM of the hive. You are the league commissioner. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to play fantasy beekeeping with the hives. ;-)

[@vinofarm]

I decided not to name queens so I wouldn’t get attached to them and f they need to be replaced. What matters is the colony as a whole, hence just naming the boxes the colonies live in.

[@davedaihatsu2585]

👍

[@janprowell2216]

I, too, like the naming although beech and birch can make me second guess things. That was a good decision to switch.

[@tiastips5806]

As always do what works best for you. Glad to see your content 😊

[@johnhoffman8203]

Three blind mites, they ought to write a song. I was so glad for you that you treated yourself twice (to bee sure) that you yourself werent carrying mites to your family. I dont even test for mites, I just treat because regardless of the results of a test I would treat anyway. Good video, thx.

[@simonblakeway559]

Love your presentation style. I've used oxalic vapourisation for nearly a decade now (circa 150 colonies) In my experience each oxalic treatment kills mites for 2-3 days. The dead phoretic mites also drop into empty cells and it takes time for the bees to clean them out - hence why your apivar results may be enhanced 😀. Please also look at the latest research on treatment timings, you may find treating early in the year (August) may help enormously. Good luck 😃

[@jorlinmarantejr.5067]

That is an insane drop, those treatments will definitely make a difference on your over wintering success. I like to use apivar for treatment because of the convenience. I hear some beekeepers saying that they don't work for them, but they are not from my area. Some people suggest that it's effectiveness might be due to the time of the year and humidity, temperature and all those environmental factors. I used them and it works well for me, but it's totally possible that for other people it might have not worked as well. Maybe there was a bad batch, you never know. This year I will be doing mite counts on my colonies before and after treatment for future reference, and next year I will do another treatment at a different time of year and measure the mites. To learn more about how the treatment works. I also used thymol this year and it seems to have work good too but I think it works better in heat rather than in cooler temperature. Interesting video, will definitely like to know what is the mite drop in the following weeks in those colonies. 👍

[@zeke135]

It's hard for Apivar to work when big guys are pushing 12% amitraz treatments and Apivar is 3.3%.....

[@ellendang1088]

Best of luck for over wintering your bees Jim. 🤞🤞🤞All goes well for you and your Bees!!! Love watching your videos. Lots of great information.

[@D4Force]

Well done. So glad we don't have Varroa her in Australia. SHB sucks however. Fantastic content, going to miss you over your winter.

[@vinofarm]

There will be barn videos and bee barn videos over the winter. I hope to keep things rolling here, but won’t be inside hives, of course. Thanks!

[@sporkintheeye]

What I have seen for conjecture (and that is all it is) on problems with Apivar is that they have had some years with some quality problems. Personally, it has worked perfectly every time for me. But I have heard very large commercial operations say "it worked for years... failed entirely one year... then worked again on following years." That sounds like a product problem, not resistance.... but that is impossible to know without a lot more data.

[@BohemiaBees]

We use apivar every fall and it works great. We don’t heavily treat our bees unless they need it. Grafting low mite colonies that overwinter helps.

[@williamtemple4331]

I live in a townhouse in a city and if I thought I could I would put one of your hives on my patio. I love living vicariously through you.

[@Jannylou100]

I found the Apivar results to be spotty. Some of our hives had great results. Others actually had an increase in mites. Tells me that the problem may be in the manufacturing end not the chemical

[@vinofarm]

I’m going to hit them with OA afterward to sweep up before winter. So far, mite drop is consistent relative to the amount of mites in the tests.

[@bwakel310]

@@vinofarm A beekeeper near me uses OA August 1 every 5 days for 5 weeks. He is zone 5. He has 80 hives.

[@citrumpet1]

Hopefully they haven't already done irreparable damage in the hives that had the huge drops. Time will tell.

[@derrickleung8014]

Hahaha I love the title, I been looking forward to this video since I saw pictures on Instagram.

[@86offroad]

Apivar has been my go to since starting beekeeping 3 years ago. I do not run screen bottom boards that have sticky boards, but after treating the front landing boards of the colonies are loaded with mites that the bees are dragging out. Great video.

[@vinofarm]

Thanks!

[@peterh5485]

I'm happy to see these proactive steps are working, and you will have successful, surviving hives come next spring. I hope you don't see another spike in mites before the cold weather really sets in. Congrats!

[@Rinahugo]

On my foam hives, I have made a wooden entrance closure which fits very tight. I drilled a hole to insert the vapor heater into the closure. For less vapors escapes.

[@randallcarter-carterhillho2277]

i love your videos. I would like to respectfully offer you what i have learned over last 2 years about mite treatments after over a decade of being a no treatment beekeeper. Timing is important, this process will take 70-90 days to complete. To take full advantage of mite treatments i would start treating about 90 days before the first killing freeze of the fall in your area. this allows enough time to 1. get the mite numbers low enough that the mite numbers would have little effect on the colony health. 2. Then rear a generation of healthy virus free bees to replace the virus infected, short lived, and sick bees and larvae that are still present even though the mites are dead and will likely result in small winter cluster or colony loss. Supplemental feeding of thin sugar syrup and pollen suppliment will help turn over the colony population faster. It will take about 42 days to overturn the entire colony population during brood rearing. These new healthy virus free bee will now be able to raise some healthy, virus free winter bees to get your colonies thru winter with minimal losses to your winter bees. The net result is a bigger and much healthier cluster of winter bees that will be ready for spring buildup. If you wait to late to treat, it may result in very small clusters in late winter or early spring because there is not enough time to rear healthy winter bees. I wish you the best with your beekeeping.

[@subsy83]

Solid idea, might have to try something like this next year. Thanks for the idea Randall, appreciate an experienced BEEK throwing around some knowledge!

[@vinofarm]

Yes. I agree with everything you said. It all makes sense on paper, but what you’re describing means as soon as my bees hit their stride, I’m removing half filled uncapped supers and starting treatment August 1. Then treatment stays in until mid September which is the tail end of the only major flow potential we have. So I’m never going to harvest honey. Honey is not top priority, but some would be nice! I had a plan all worked out to treat this August but flows and dearths and an incredibly rainy season mucked things up. I know treating now is not ideal, but my seasons with 100% and 95% survival were treated the exact same timing. There is hope.

[@subsy83]

@@vinofarm our season was terrible too, we had an extremely weird weather pattern that brough a frigid winter. Then we had an unusually wet summer which washed nectar away for weeks. We got very little honey this year in a lot of Texas. Hopefull next year will be better!

[@kamonreynolds]

@@vinofarm Right and this is where guys like Randall and I have quite a different set of variables than you honey super wise. That is why fellas with short seasons like Ian treat before the honey flow starts then treat again late after they can remove supers. This is how mites never build to populations that can retard bees or wipe them out in their operations before they get to their late treatment and also it gives them more honey yield due to low, low mite levels during the honey flow. If I haven't said it before. Mites are a huge pain in the butt.

[@jeffrdnck7973]

I started watching with your first video. Haven’t been keeping up as I had an anaphylactic reaction a year and half ago. Going through treatments and was really down about it. I’m amazed at your development and attention to minute details. I really enjoy your videos, it’s great to see how serious you take everything and how you’ve progressed.

[@vinofarm]

Thank you. I hope you’re getting better.

[@sabbys7750]

Let the evidence speak for itself! Great job!! Love your videos!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!

[@tricky6744]

Great video! It is interesting to see what the other commenters do. I make OA cardboard strips for earlier in the year and put in Apivar right after the supers come off. Thankfully have had very low mite counts the last two years.

[@ulloa8521]

I can't help but think that that thieving colony had the plague and was the deliverer of doom for the others, hope everything turns out alright for November.

[@Newberntrains]

with bee drift it can happen neighbor had a dead off from mites and now got high mites in my hives from mine robbing that one he left for a week

[@michaellemay1477]

Hi Jim! Didn't read all the comments below, but I just wanted to add that there's also the formic acid 65% flash method that exist and actually mainly used here in Quebec. Have you heard about it ? Feels like it's simpler than vaporizing OA and it is also organic. Basically, you put a certain amount (max 20ml/deep box) on a paper towel in the screened bottom board tray and it vaporizes itself during the next 6 hours or so. And then, you repeat it like 3-4 times in the fall. This is what I did with my bees the last couple of years and had pretty good results, massive mite drops. I might test Apivar soon though...sounds interesting too. *Edit: Just wanted to add, that it's a good thing you had good results with Apivar, I'm happy for you, but still, it seems like it's recommended not tu use it as the only way to deal with varroa mites cause they could develop resistance to this molecule, just a side note. It's always good to watch your videos. Best of luck with your little wingy fellows!

[@vinofarm]

It’s not my only treatment method! Just my favorite. I’ll do OA after this if weather allows. It’ll be November, so we’ll see. Thanks for the info.

[@Bjpeg42]

Good to see what mite treatment is like. As an Australian beekeeper I don't have to deal with this...yet.

[@vinofarm]

You guys are very lucky!

[@dougstucki8253]

Not sure if you follow Randy Oliver, but he is researching OA sponge use. You create a 50/50 mixture of OA and glycerin, heat it to 160 to dissolve the OA, and soak a Swedish sponge. Put that sponge in the hive and leave it for 40-60 days. He has seen a high degree of effectiveness in reducing mite loads. This method isn't approved by the FDA, but let's say you wanted to bleach the wood on the tops of your frames while the bees are still in the hive. ;-) I did that this year. Left it all summer, and my mite counts were less than 1% after the "wood bleaching" treatment came out. I took them out at the end of summer and then did Apiguard for the fall, and will do OAV in November and December. (zone 8b)

[@vinofarm]

I watched a lot of Randy’s videos. But I’m not up for experimenting with sponges and glycerin quite yet. It will be interesting to see if they can get that concept approved. Lots of people talking about it.

[@petestern3639]

Hi Jim we found they just didn’t work as well as OA but I appreciate how you are very thorough

[@ZelmaBees]

Nice video and very informative. Thank you for your time to edit and post.

[@ScottPickettUT]

Ya I got Apivar for my first ever mite treatment as a new beek. I was getting push back from Facebook groups so this is timely for me and I’m moving forward with my plan now. Thx

[@vinofarm]

The pushback is real. I spent my first year as a beekeeper posting everything I did on KZbin. Hundreds of people telling me NOT to treat at all! Crazy trying to wade through the chaff. Do what you think is right. Find people you can trust.

[@kathyhathaway8823]

Wow that is very interesting. Thanks . Very good video.

[@bloodgrrll]

I love watching these videos a d seeing whats working and if I ever get bees what I might want to include to do well.

[@chadeikenhorst4333]

Ideally I think you want to treat earlier in the year for your area. You want the treatment finished before the last few rounds of brood get capped for the winter. Thank you for sharing!

[@vinofarm]

In an ideal world, I agree. It’s very difficult trying to manage bees coming out of spring, buildup, spotty flows, and the long post summer prep for winter when the season is only 4 months long. If I want to harvest any honey at all, it gets really challenging trying to fit in treatment. I need to find something to fit the dearth gap of early August that isn’t temperature sensitive. Formic doesn’t work for us in the middle of summer. It’s a frustrating balancing act.

[@toska5466]

Was just watching your old vids🤍 hope y’all doing ok and staying safe

[@hyfy-tr2jy]

Jim. great video as usual. Many of the commercial beekeepers that I have talked to that see Apivar failing is typically based on the batch they use. It seems it isn't the active ingredient that is in Apivar but the actual strips themselves. From what I am told the company that makes Apivar started a new application process and is showing some hit or miss issues with adding the active ingredient evenly between strips

[@vinofarm]

I heard that, but there’s also a persistent comment I get that “mites have become resistant”. Memes spread like wildfire. I heard them all and last year decided to skip Apivar. Bad idea. I plan to use OA AFTER the strips come out to get whatever is left. But Apivar seems to be just as effective as I’ve ever seen.

[@cbbees1468]

"The only good mite is a dead one." - If John Wayne was a beekeeper probably

[@mademoisellekaya1438]

😂 I'm the type that visualizes a scene like this immediately, lmbo!! 😂😁

[@lialos]

Great video Jim, thanks!

[@jtelander]

I treat with Apivar after pulling honey supers in June. I follow up with Apiguard where needed, then touch up with oxalic in December when there is no capped brood. What matters to me is the post-treatment results from alcohol washes and whether or not the levels after treatment are below the threshold. Seeing mite drop on the IPM board is encouraging but is not definitive. I look forward to seeing your post-treatment monitoring results. Hopefully all zeros! Jeff Telander Jeff Telander

[@vinofarm]

Yes. The before and after tests are what matter to prove effectiveness. Still nice to see dead mites, though.

[@VikingMakery]

Thank you for posting about this!

[@paulajones6366]

Result! Shows the efficiency of apivar and it’s left in so long it’s going to keep on working.

[@Scott-np7sl]

I know it's a year old but thanks for the video! Last year I used Formic Pro on my first beehive and the queen died, so I'll be trying Apivar next month.

[@johniac7078]

This is really good. I have had the same experience with Apivar. Late summer early fall treatment leads to better winter survival.

[@jesshowe4591]

Good one well done brilliant as usual. My apivar strips have been in 5 weeks and I'm still getting a massive drop weekly. My only comment would be you need to put Apivar in hive in August. 👏

[@vinofarm]

Difficult with our oddball flows. Supers were on this year through August because none of the frames were capped. We have a very short season so if the bees are bringing in resources we want to let them. They need supers on that time of year.

[@primitivedaisy]

Apivar, as well as oxalic acid works. I have done two treatments with OA and the mite drop has been staggering! I am planning on doing two more treatments before winter here in Wisconsin, but am considering a treatment during winter if temps allow. If it works for you, then do it! Nice video. 😊🐝

[@vinofarm]

Be careful seeing large mite drop and assuming the mite load actually diminished. Sometimes you kill a lot of mites and more are emerging and the levels actually stay the same. The best practice is to test before and after. Glad you’re killing mites, of course.

[@katierevis8040]

I love your videos , their so experimental but very educational

[@MikeChamplin]

Jim - I've done almost the same treatment - BUT - with a twist. I added the Apivar strips after removing Supers and then did an OAV treatment with my Easy Vap at the midpoint of the 42 day Apivar window. Yes I know it's a double shot, but my approach is to crush those mite counts before winter and I'm not playing nice. Once my Apivar is done (Oct 14th), I'll do a full OAV cycle of one treatment every five days over 3 weeks. It''s still in the 80's here so cold doesn't occur until almost Christmas. Love the new hive designs too!

[@vinofarm]

I hope to get a cleanup OAV shot in after the strips come out. We always have oddball warmish days in November amongst the freezing ones. Definitely want to kill as many mites as possible.

[@russellkoopman3004]

Jim, thanks for the news on Apivar. I just pulled my strips last week and I will sleep better at night now. I do plan like you to do another OAV later this fall. I had zero and 2 mites in my wash in August before treatments so I'm hoping I'm ok.

[@larag4646]

I alternated formic pro (14 day treatment version instead of the 7 days) and apivar, usually using apivar when temps were hot. Over the winter, if there's a warm spell and the cluster is able to break, is when I do a shot of oxalic vapor. Can get in one treatment a month over the winter usually.

[@spokehedz]

12:21 - Me, in a Chef-John-of-FoodWIshes-voice: "Heh, The ol' tappa-tappa"

[@PapaBee165]

Great video, perfect timing.

[@svenzethelius140]

One suggestion RE: OAV treatment. Instead of treating from the front entrance, I treat my bees through the miteboard hole. Most of the agitation comes from messing around in front of the hive. They get a lot less disturbed both during and after treatment when they don't know why the hive suddenly smells. I tape a plastic bag under the hive to mostly block the airflow out the screened bottom, then block the front entrances, then quickly stuff the heat wand into the back and then use more plastic to stuff the rest of the hole.

[@lagrangebees]

That's a pretty friken awesome mite drop :D Glad the treatment combo worked so well. I am curious, are you going to try rearing some queens from your more mite resistant hives? Its fairly simple, has a chance of spreading those mite resistant genes and replaces any aging queens as an added bonus :)

[@kingragnar423]

I knew that was clickbait the first moment i saw the post. I just used Apivar the other day. It decimated the mites

[@brycehanson6750]

I treated my hives with Apivar after a mite wash of 9 mites per 100 bees. After 46 days I removed the strips and two weeks later I completed another alcohol wash. My results were 7 mites per 100 bees. This being my first experience with Apivar I was highly disappointed, yes I followed all the label instructions and the strips were not expired. This was an expensive lesson. I have great results with OA and haven’t lost a colony in four winters. (Knock on wood). I may try Apivar again or some other treatment next season.

[@vinofarm]

That sucks. I’m hoping for better results. It’s nice to see dead mites, but I won’t really know unless I test after the strips come out and if the weather doesn’t cooperate I may not get a test in. Even if the mite load is high, there’s not much I can do in freezing weather and snow. Just have to hope this treatment lightens the load and they go into winter with less mite stress.

[@billchriswell2925]

👍 I do a dbl whammy in the fall. My Apivar has been in for a week….this coming week I start OAV.

[@Ksweetpea]

Holy Maple Mites, batman! It is so satisfying to see all those mites on the board, though

[@vinofarm]

It was breathtaking. I have no illusions that this hive will be treated and be perfectly OK. There’s a very good possibility any viruses the mites carry will have weakened the colony already. Unfortunately, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Maple is my largest colony.

[@InsideTheHiveTV]

the problem is bigger than people realize. We are running out of options, unfortunately. Some batches of Apivar seem not to work anymore. Mite resistance? or bad product consistency?

[@vinofarm]

Thanks for stopping by. I like your channel. Have there been any studies on this? It seems like a meme that got out of control. I get a lot of comments and speculation about Apivar “not working”. But I also get results like these and plenty of people saying it works great. It’s hard to trust everything you hear on the internet.

[@bluzervic]

I think you have to swap / rotate treatments every other year or so, so they don’t build up a resistance to the treatment….. great video as always

[@vinofarm]

Multiple methods throughout the year is how it’ll probably play out. Thanks!

[@Steele_Wings]

From Charlotte NC. I used Apivar fist week of August and removed 49 days later. Then followed up with OA and the mite drop was beyond counting 2 weeks of OA. Too many mites. I and using mite away quick strips because my temps are 50-87F this week. Mites drop is still high cleaning off check board every day. Lost all 3 hives last year and got late packages this year May so no spring treatments.

[@GenYGaming]

Apivar and Apiguard worked great for me.

[@44thala49]

Great video. Very informative.

[@justbee7278]

Since you use both treatments on the hives how can you not be sure it wasn't the OA that caused the might drop later on in the week? Also it might be a good idea to drill a small hole in the back of your hive to insert your vaporizer I see a lot of beekeepers doing this. One more question do you double dose with the OA on each hive or do you use the recommended dose? Thanks

[@vinofarm]

Because OA doesn’t continue working for a week. Maybe a few days. I only did the OA on one hive. The rest were only Apivar.

[@ECP]

@@vinofarm I have seen personally seen OA kill for a good 5 days after treatment... it is thought that many of the mites are killed through starvation because the OA gets on the pads of their feet .... I have seen this treating weekly with OA weekly on numerous hives cleaning off the tyvex bottom sticky board daily... I think know you are seeing a good amount of that kill from the OA later in the week....

[@vinofarm]

@@ECP Also the sheer number of mites. That hive had a 23 mite count in the wash. More mites in the hive, more mites to kill.

[@joezurek7804]

i use apivar myself. so far im satisfied with it. u used oa first then put apivar in. the oa will kill for about 3 to 4 days. so u really dont know how well the apivar is killing. next sample will tell story

[@crabmansteve6844]

Thank you for not under-dosing. Apivar is bad mouthed as becoming resistant of, and it's mostly because people under dose their hives because it's a little expensive. I don't understand that at all, you wouldn't under-dose medication for yourself, or pest control spray in your home. It's not even *that* expensive, $200 for 60 strips is incredibly affordable.

[@BlanchardsBees]

I'm having second thoughts now just doing OAV 3 days apart. I'm seeing mite drop after every vape but I've been wondering how effective it's been. I'll do mite washes next week to find out. Thanks for sharing!

[@vinofarm]

I’m planning OAV in November after the strips come out. Just as a cleanup sweep. Everything I’m seeing about OAV is that it mostly MAINTAINS mite levels but doesn’t really drop them.

[@jonathanswoboda]

With OAV its important to do the final treatment after all brood had been hatched. The reason you still get drop is bees keep emerging with fresh mites. I do ~3 treatments total from Sept to Dec. I do the last one as late as the weather allows > 4 degrees C.

[@jonathanswoboda]

Treating with brood present will knock down the levels, its helpful but you will not get a full kill. Fully mature mites can hatch out and jump in a new cell immediately. Its very important to do the final treatment after the brooding is done.

[@BlanchardsBees]

@@vinofarm another thing I've noticed since doing 4 gram OAV 3days apart is that there is very little brood when they should be raising winter bees? I was thinking maybe all the vape treatments so close together has somehow disrupted the queens laying. Any thoughts?

[@rstlr01]

@@BlanchardsBees that does sound pretty aggressive treatment. I been doing 2 grams every 5 days for 4 treatments and have been able to avoid any queen Issues. I run Russian/VSH so August and November x2 OAV seem to work for me the last 3 years.

[@lydiafife8716]

As I understand it, Apivar should be left for 52 days for efficacy Oxalic acid should be administered once the winter nest is ready and there is no brood left (so mites will be dealt with effectively by apivar on all emerging brood) and then OA does the final blow to protect the hive and reduce disease and enable the nest to be strong and survive the winter Check with your local and National beekeeping associations for how to do your due diligence for this potential Apivar tolerance issue - which is an issue being studied btw around North America Best practices are always good 👍🏻

[@dcmirk]

It's scientifically tested and documented that there is a growing resistance to apivar among certain heavily treated hives in certain commercial bee yards, but this resistance does not appear to exist among mostcommon Beekeeper hives, especially those employing mixed treatments like this. I think we're all safe to keep using apivar, especially if you mix with formic or oxalic acid.

[@johnskrabak8054]

Great vid - Thank you, sir.

[@LittleDergon]

Dang! That's a lot of mites! Imagine how many mites there would have been over winter if you hadn't checked and treated 😨

[@vinofarm]

They would have been dead by Christmas. There’s also no guarantee they will make it. There may already be viruses present that will weaken them. Doing all I can…

[@subsy83]

@@vinofarm what I just read on another guys idea may help. By stimulating them a little with feeding and pollen patties to rear a quicker healthy population for winter so these virus laden bees will probably die off. But maybe just maybe have some healthy ones made to save the hive.

[@darkart-mr8wu]

Love YOUR content. Me i just use strips. Sorry i have a large yard and i like to leave my bees alone. I put supers on then. When i take them off i put strips in before the winter bees arrive to knock down mites loads. Then i wash test about a month after. If i see THE mites are still hi THEN i gas them. If not i leave them 🐝.

[@danmcmillan9452]

I think apivar in September and a oxalic in November is the way to go. The mites in the brood cells aren't touched by apivar

[@vinofarm]

The mites in the brood cells are all out within the 6 weeks of the treatment. That’s why you leave it in that long. OAV follow up is the plan.

[@billchriswell2925]

Do 3 oav treatments… 1 per week for 3 weeks… covers the brood cycle

[@vinofarm]

@@billchriswell2925 That’s what I did last year. Did not work. This is not the advised plan anymore. Now it’s basically: treat every 3-4 days for several weeks.

[@billchriswell2925]

@@vinofarm Idk… works here although I never seem to have mite loads of consequence.

[@PharmSilver]

The ankle sting part got me. Same thing happening here to me just 45 min East. They love crawling up my jeans and zinging me in the ankles!

[@vinofarm]

This is the first year I’ve had crawlers going UP my pants. Not sure what was going on, but they were crawling right in and I had a very unfortunate sting about a month ago. Now I tie my pants to prevent that, but they’re still finding my ankles. I’m going to make some gaiters.

[@josephinec7728]

Hello thank you for the video....where did the hives come from I mean where do you purchase one or is it home made.....Josie

[@vinofarm]

I made them! See here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGiZaYJ_dpiVg9E

[@westcoaster977]

Each treatment of formic pro I had a few hundred bees. The queen made it. All other treatments were sold out. I will be more prepared next year.

[@pino_de_vogel]

Sounds like a rapid mite treatment with acid on high load hives and stript for the long term is the better solution.

[@AranMiller]

Your vail is awesome! Looks like it give good visibility. Where did you get it?

[@ryannefcy3811]

Apivar didn't work for me this year. 6 weeks after dropping in strips I checked hives only to find absurd mite numbers still. One hive even gave me a 60 count in a couple 100 bees which was a dramatic increase from the wash before strips went in of 11.

[@johnkasprak5707]

I can only give you my results. 14 days after I finished treating my hive with Apivar I sampled and my mite levels are between 2%-3% on 5 colonies. I expected better results and I can say I'm disappointed. In the SE we are really hampered by the temperature limits on many of the treatments. At least I can hit them with different treatment and hopefully get them down.

[@vinofarm]

Multiple treatments is the way. I’m hoping to get an OAV shot in after I take the strips out.

[@johnkasprak5707]

@@vinofarm I agree with multiple treatments. I thought about OAV, but won't be at our low for brood until end of the year. I'm going to hit them with an Apiguard treatment. I wish you zeros on your follow up assessments!

[@kevindeichmann6755]

Where's a good place to get those big metal entrance discs that you're using in the feeding/vent chamber? All I can find are the smaller ones. Thanks

[@vinofarm]

If you click the link in the description, the ones I used are in my Amazon shop.

[@Peter_Gunn]

I used apivar this year and had great results. 0 mites in alcohol washes after

[@juancarlosquilezparra3403]

Nice video and really good work on mite treatment! Just one suggestion for next treatment. I cannot appreciate how long are the Apivar stripes, but at least in Spain (Europe) we can find them in Layens format which are longer and might suit your hive or frame size perfectly. Also Dadant format are slightly shorter than Layens. Just saying as an idea 💡 😉. In Europe we can find Apivar and Apitraz with the same active ingredient, amitraz.

[@vinofarm]

Thanks!

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

I shutter a bit thinking about the body fat damage done to the winter bees with all those mites sucking them dry. Depleting their stores normally saved for brood rearing in the spring. How much OA did you shoot in Jim? And does anyone know where Apivar is manufactured?

[@Snowfyre88]

That first hive with the high numbers that you couldn't test, could you do an OA treatment on them since it's obvious they have a high mite count? Or at this point is it a control for the one that you did the OA on already?

[@vinofarm]

I’m letting the Apivar run it’s course. Hoping to hit everyone with at least one good shot of OA after I take the strips out in November.

[@twistin140]

Thanks for the video. Long live BALBOA!

[@keirallen81]

Evening. My understanding is that apistan is the one that has limited effect these days. However.... Over here in the UK, apistan was seen as the solution and the thing that worked. Everyone used it and and used it etc. The varroa evolved and apistan became obsolete. Weirdly as folk have stopped using it and other treatments have become more dominant apistan appears to be working again. The moral is that we should vary our treatments both over the year and year to year.

[@vinofarm]

Yes. The key is multiple methods during the year.

[@Steele_Wings]

Apivar works slowly. I want a fast knock down of mites for healthy winter bees free of viruses. I am not saying it doesn't work but I would hit those same hives with OA after you treat with Apivar to be safe.

[@vinofarm]

I didn’t say I wouldn’t do that! That’s the plan. And that’s why I gave the worst hive the initial quick hit. I’ll do OA on a warm day when n November.

[@hllcntryhrrcane6720]

My experience with Apivar has been a bad one this year. I treated 9 hives with Apivar in Sept Oct and Nov. they went into winter strong with lots of store but I had 5 hives perish in a mild December and 2 more in January. I started treating the survivors with OAV weekly in February and have had a ton of mites drop. Maybe I hit a bad batch of strips….

[@redbarnhoneybees614]

Awesome video as always! Edit: Always interesting to see that even if your wash had a low count there are plenty lurking around that you missed. Hope you nuked them all. My typical rotation is Apivar in the spring during splits, Formic Pro when temps allow in the summer, Apivar in the fall, and now OA once the bees cluster up more.

[@vinofarm]

That’s aggressive. Good job.

[@CraigFalls1]

Same here -- apivar, formic, apivar. I'm gentle with the formic pro -- one pad, with a little ventilation, when the temperatures are moderate. Overwintering rates have been excellent -- 95%+. Other than the aggressive varroa regimine, I'm really not doing anything special -- some hives go into winter a little light, no hives get quilt boxes or special ventilation, no treatments for tracheal mites or foulbrood or hive beetles, unremarkable location, plain old Italian genetics. My few losses have been queen issues -- a hive will swarm and fail to mate a new queen and need to be combined with another hive, or a queen will go drone layer midwinter. I really think mediocre beekeeping + aggressive mite treatment = 95% survival.

[@federicopierlorenzi6968]

We know that the role af a bee inside the hive change in according to their age. Is it possible that a good cleaning behavior of one hive depends on that you didn't use that hive for splitting in new nuc? I mean: the hives that have bad cleaning behavior (against varroa mite) is the hives where you took away some bees, perhaps in the cleaning period so they didn't work inside the colony and varroa mite could grow better? I don't know, I'm just asking...

[@vinofarm]

I have never witnessed any significant “cleaning” behavior in any colony. My most infested colony last summer was the VSH colony… supposedly the one with varroa cleaning abilities. Not so much. Removing a queen and giving a colony a “brood break” reduces mites because the mites run out of places to reproduce for a few weeks. It’s not necessarily because the bees are busy “cleaning mites.”

[@CastleHives]

I wonder if you drill a hole in the back and have a pipe for the OA to travel through, and plug when not in use. That way you could vape them from the back of the hive. Update Bee Barn V5.3. Heh. . Nice seeing a mite kill. Like you said Jim, murder Mites. . Killem all. I love internet comments sometimes, you've got to get it all. Thanks for sharing.

[@vinofarm]

I thought about making an access hole/tunnel, but that would break the seal. Everything is built super tight and I want to maintain hull integrity!

[@CastleHives]

@@vinofarm Ah, that makes sense.

[@taboc741]

An insert to an existing hole might be the right trick then. My theory on apivar vs OA is wholey uninformed but actually come from one of your prior videos. Mix it up. You don't want to apply a single selective breeding pressure on the mites. That only encourages the mites that are resistant to apivar to procreate. Not sure how you can rotate in other pressures and still finish the year with apivar, but i also don't think you want to start a selective mite breeding program in your bee yard. That might also be what happened to the commercial folks they did only one treatment and now they are hosting treatment resistant mites.

[@spiritpower15]

I hate ankle stings. I bought a pair of white rubber boats, bigger than my regular size so hot air can rise out. A little hot in summer, but better than stings.

[@jasonanderson1534]

I enjoy your videos I was wondering or hoping when I first seen your hives if you noticed any increase in honey production I thought your hives would be so much better in the summer and winter for lack of a better term bee comfort or brood growth just wondering if there was any noticeable difference with any part of that end of beekeeping

[@vinofarm]

I will have a full report in the coming months. There were large benefits in a lot of areas. As for honey production, that is hugely weather dependent around here. This year was great in the beginning and then tapered off to a whimper when we usually have solid flows. That had nothing to do with the hives. Overall, colonies seemed larger and overall stronger across the bee yard than I n previous years when I’d have one or two beasts, a bunch of medium strength hives and some weak ones. These were all as good as some of my top 10 hives ever.

[@michaelmueller4946]

I just ordered apivar strips

[@richiebag6072]

When will the bee barns be for sale / prints and plans.

[@vinofarm]

I'm going to make a how-to build video this winter. I wanted to get through a season with them first. I have some tweaks I'm going to make to version 2.0/ Stay tuned.

[@davidapp3730]

Great video. Always very informative and precise. Do you have any issues with SHB in your area? I never see you mention them.

[@vinofarm]

I actually saw a single beetle in one hive last week! It didn’t make the edit, but I have it on video. I saw one or two SHB in a nuc I got 4 years ago that came from Missouri, but never saw them multiply. I squashed the one I saw last week, but if there are any others, I doubt they’ll survive winter.

[@davidapp3730]

@@vinofarm Thank you.

[@martingibbs1179]

I wonder if these commercial bee keepers you mention are seeing less effectiveness from Apivar because they have bred Apivar resistant mites?

[@vinofarm]

It’s possible. This is another reason to do multiple methods and not rely on one treatment.

[@AParr-cp4ib]

". . . because they have bred Apivar resistant mites?" LOL. I am not a "bee person" but this was exactly my thought, I just didn't know how to explain it as well as you just did. Just because mites that are resistant to a treatment in one geographical area, doesn't mean that they are resistant in all areas. I never post on this channel, but I watch every single video. I am a person that is allergic to bee stings, don't much care for the taste of honey, any time I see a bee, I like to give that bee a very wide berth. . . but these vids are absolutely fascinating! Have been watching them for two or three years now, at least, enjoy them all. Thanks, Jim, keep up the good work!

[@vinofarm]

@@AParr-cp4ib Appreciated.

[@inwe2102]

The one hive that you took the last super off, if it's so big will it all fit in the lower box? I know you consolidate for winter and I know that's a great idea. Just wondering.

[@vinofarm]

A good portion of those bees are older foragers who will be dead in a couple weeks. The overall population will be nice and cozy this winter.

[@inwe2102]

@@vinofarm thanks for the reply!

[@andrewnicholson7222]

Great video, love the channel. I'm pretty ignorant on the subject matter. How do native hives in the woods survive a mite infestation? Are they grooming them off of the hive members? Thanks!

[@vinofarm]

They die off until they survive. The ones that survive will have bred in some kind of resistance or cleaning ability. There’s people who try to catch wild swarms and only keep those bees, but we have slim pickings for wild swarms up here. To catch a swarm from a colony that has managed to figure out 6 month winters in Massachusetts AND had enough generations to figure out varroa mites is just not possible.

[@andrewnicholson7222]

@@vinofarm thanks for taking the time to let me know.