Apigaurd mite question

[Dr. B in Wisconsin]

Hello
I put a package of Apiguard in my hive about a week ago, I had lots of mites at the end of the season here in Wisconsin. It was a little cold here when I put it in 60's maybe a 70 degree day. I checked and they removed the Apiguard from the tray. It does not look like it is going to get warm here again. I checked with a sticky board and there is still lots of mites on the board. The question is will one treatment  of Apiguard take care of the mites at this time of the year and will the mite count drop rapidly since the Apiguard should have killed all ?? of them. I assume that they are falling off the bees or the bees are cleaning the hive and they are dropping. This is my first year at this, by lots I mean lots like 200 :( :(

Thanks for any answers.
Brian

[buzzbee]

The internal hive temps should be warm enough,but you need to treat twice to get the mites that are in the capped brood.

   "Best results occur when bees are active and maximum daily temperatures are between 60 degrees and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. To use Api-guard, place the dosing tray or pad centrally on the top of the brood frames gel side up. Be sure to allow at least 1/4 inches of spacing between the top of the tray and the cover using spacer boards  or empty supers as needed. Apply the second dose 14 days after the first."

[tandemrx]

and killing "all" the mites is sadly overly optimistic.  You will at best knock the population down some.  :-\

[Kathyp]

you need to use it as directed.  one tray for a week will not do it.  it's a great product, but hard for us to use in the northern climates.  go and put the 2nd tray on and leave it until you must be out of the hives.  at least there will be some benefit.

or, call it good for this year.  next year either start the apiguard earlier, or use another mite management system.  

[L Daxon]

Check out this website:  https://www.dadant.com/Apiguard-FAQs.htm   It will answer a lot of your questions.

If your daytime temps aren't going to get above 60 degrees, it might be a waste of money to put on the second dose.  Might be better to plan on just doing a full 2 dose treatmet asap in the spring, before the honey flow.

Also, the site I referred you to said you can expect an 85%-95% efficacy rate of mite kill with Apiguard.

Linda D

[AllenF]

That is a good web site on Apigaurd.

[Dr. B in Wisconsin]

Thanks for the help everyone, it is going to warm up next week and I will apply the second treatment.