Autumn Varroa Treatment

Following on from the previous blog, as the 'retail' honey has been extracted, I can now do the Autumn varroa treatment.
The chemical in the treatment taints the honey and makes it smell a bit, not that the bees care.
I used two different treatments, Apiguard for the Ravensden bees and Apistan for the Scald End bees.

The Apiguard should be applied when the weather is warm and two doses are given a fortnight apart.
Apistan should be taken off by 6 weeks or 8 weeks at the latest.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, its not uncommon for the treatments not to be applied correctly.
The Apiguard needs to be put on when the weather is warm and taken off after two weeks or else the bees can become resistant to a weak level of the treatment.

As honey bees are classified as food producing animals bee keepers are required to keep a Veterinary Medicines Report. Both Apiguard and Apistan have batch numbers and I keep a record of these should the Inspector from the National Bee Unit needs to see it.


Next year I might switch them around or try something different. Its thought best practice to change the treatments to prevent the bees building up a resistance to a particular treatment.