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Thread: Are neonicotinoid pesticides responsible for the demise of bees and other wildlife?

  1. #121
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    I started 5 years ago and still very much consider myself a novice. At our local association beginner's course it was drummed into us " if you want to keep your bees alive you must treat for varroa ". I find myself constantly apologizing to my bees for my clumsiness, but I am getting there. Never lost any yet apart from a late nuc and my first hive was lost to vandals. I lose the odd swarm, but always get a reasonable amount of honey ( although this year it could be thin on the ground) and I firmly believe that is because I treat for varroa twice a year, which is strengthened reading comments on this forum. Our local commercial guy George Hood (deceased) said he never saw any mites but he always treated for them.

  2. #122
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Anyone seeing phoretic mites running on the bees probably has a very serious mite infestation.
    I only ever see the odd one on the bottom board and sometimes I don't see a mite for a couple of months.
    Same as yourself, I treat twice a year, Apiguard before the end of August and Oxalic late December.
    A colony with no sign of mites can easily drop 500-1000 when treatment is started.
    I think the Oxalic is important as it gets rid of 90% of the mite population which has built up between September and December after the Thymol treatment has finished.
    If the Oxalic is effective the colony build up in March starts with maybe a couple of dozen mites.

  3. #123
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    Amen to that and control of varroa mite is not rocket science if you are careful about the timing of the treatment.
    If anything, nosema is harder to detect and harder to control although I have had very good results after adding some thymol to the winter feed as in Pete Little's recipe. Will do the same this winter when feeding.
    The Youcel paper which looked at colonies over 3 winters found that this was a more effective control of nosema than fumidil.
    If you keep these two maladies in check, your bees will more than likely thrive.
    Hi,
    was really interested in using Thymol as an additive for my winter feed. Asked our local state bee health specialist. He informed me it is illegal in Germany to add Thymol to feed, as the bees can and will move the feed with it in it up into the supers to make more room for brood in the spring, contaminating the honey crop.
    Such big differences between Germany and the UK. Oh btw beware of selling honey abroad - Germany at least has juicy fines for contaminated honey (including costs of disposal wich are 5-7000 € / 100kg) which if your honey was mixed with others can add up to a fair old bill....
    Last edited by Calum; 26-07-2012 at 10:33 AM.

  4. #124
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    Has anyone used Api-life var. I have used apistan in the past but Edinburgh bka reported a 70% resistance to it in the Lothians so that is out for me this year.

  5. #125
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Calum View Post
    Hi,
    was really interested in using Thymol as an additive for my winter feed. Asked our local state bee health specialist. He informed me it is illegal in Germany to add Thymol to feed, as the bees can and will move the feed with it in it up into the supers to make more room for brood in the spring, contaminating the honey crop. (
    Hi Calum. That's not a big problem. I remove all frames of stores from the brood box at the end or march or start of april, at any rate well before supers go on. I use these frames for feeding nucs.

  6. #126
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    Quote Originally Posted by onj View Post
    Has anyone used Api-life var. I have used apistan in the past but Edinburgh bka reported a 70% resistance to it in the Lothians so that is out for me this year.
    I've not used api-life var, I tend to use either apiguard or a published "home brew" of thymol crystals and surgical spirit soaked into ordinary pieces of kitchen sponge. Both have worked well for me and I believe that apiguard just works out cheaper per hive than api life var, but it comes in packs of 10 (5 treatments) which might be excessive if you only have 1-2 hives.

  7. #127
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nellie View Post
    I've not used api-life var, I tend to use either apiguard or a published "home brew" of thymol crystals and surgical spirit soaked into ordinary pieces of kitchen sponge. Both have worked well for me and I believe that apiguard just works out cheaper per hive than api life var, but it comes in packs of 10 (5 treatments) which might be excessive if you only have 1-2 hives.
    Some sellers do sell Apiguard in 1s and 2s..

    Like you I make my own via a published remedy: cheaper and just as effective.

  8. #128
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    I have used simple thymol crystals as described by Peter Edwards but these days I'm more likely to use Apiguard gel. Bare naked crystals seem to work as well as the various concoctions, and there is no risk of the bees chewing the honey jar lid into pieces to incorporate into their propolis:

    http://www.stratfordbeekeepers.org.u...aTreatment.htm

    Unlike Peter I don't rely on thymol but use oxalic (75g/1000g sugar/1000ml water) dribble in midwinter and only turn to thymol if there is a summer problem. You do need to be careful not to taint any subsequent honey crops (and best not sell to Germany of course).

  9. #129
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    I use thymol toothpaste (for my teeth, that is) and have often wondered if the thymol content was strong enough to affect varroa. The fact that I'm still alive suggests to me that it is harmless to humans. My wife also cooks with with thyme and her cooking hasn't killed me yet either. Perhaps it's one of those slow acting things that will cause me to forget my way home.

    Steve

  10. #130
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    So - you are happy with 2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol? Sounds like a scary chemical to me!

    Quote Originally Posted by Rosie View Post
    I use thymol toothpaste (for my teeth, that is) and have often wondered if the thymol content was strong enough to affect varroa.
    Thankfully, I don't have a problem with Varroa in my oral or any other cavity.

    G.

    Did that post need a winking smiley do you think?!
    Last edited by gavin; 26-07-2012 at 11:01 PM.

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