Has anyone used HopGuardII for mite control? What are your thoughts?
I've never used it.
Never used it or anything else.
I did buy mite away II. Tested it in an empty hive and the acid ate holes in my screen bottom board.
I have a whole container that I will give, free, to anyone who wants to come get it. You can only use it down here when the temps drop below 80 degrees.
Jim
all i use are brood breaks.
I have researched both MAQS and HopGuard. Am leaning toward the HopGuard. The formic acid in the Mite Away has me a little leery especially when you have supers on. They say it is safe, but still hesitant in trying it.
Skip, 10framer has a good point with the brood breaks. Read up on the life cycle of the mites. If you can break the cycle you can severely set them back. I also have an o.a. vaporizer just in case.
I tried mite away once & it killed 3 out 4 queens in the treated hives. I have also used apiguard with better results but I used 1/2 doses & only in heavily infested hives. brood breaks & drone comb are a lot safer.
I did a sugar roll on my 2 smallest hives today. Had a count of 6 & 7.
Skip, are these first year hives? If so the count will usually be low to start with.
First year in my care. Got them from a good friend who is a commercial beek