Commercial Beekeeper Bob Binnie Treating For Late Summer Varroa

[Ben Framed]

Bob and crew try out a new designed (18V) OAV dispenser for treating for Varroa Destructor.
>Our first time using an InstantVap Compact 18V to treat summer nucs in Northeast Georgia.<


https://youtu.be/GTsy0xKLOEM?si=u5OwKvP-4DSpE4ul

[Lesgold]

Thanks for putting up the clip Phillip. The digital version is already being used in Australia by some of the larger beekeepers in areas where varroa is present. Although not legal to use it yet, it will be a commonly used tool in the fight to keep mite numbers down. This is what I will be using when it is able to be used. Although quite expensive, it will pay for itself within the first year where we will have to treat quite a few times due to huge mite numbers building quickly. It can be purchased with a number of different battery options.  For example, I run all Makita gear and will buy one to suit my batteries. This will keep costs down as well in relation to batteries and chargers. The units take a bit over 1AH of power to heat up before the first use so even a 3AH battery should give enough power to treat 7 or 8 hives. I have a small inverter in the back of my ute that will easily allow batteries to charge while I?m working on hives. Bob?s generator would be a good option for a situation where quite a few people are using the units.

[Ben Framed]

Thanks Les. Though the information can be fruitful for all, I especially had you and our fellow Australian members and guest in mind when I posted this topic.

Phillip

[Lesgold]

Do you or any of the members use one of these units? I?d be really interested in feedback as research over the past couple of months has shown both of the 18v instant vapes units to be very good.

[Ben Framed]

Les I did not know they made the 18v battery type until just recently. I don?t recall others here discussing those either. I for one have a 110 electric powered one with a digital Ink bird PID temperature controller which I described some time back on another topic. It is my understanding that many of our members have moved to this type of OAV applicator (the Provap type. It seem Technology is always advancing in this area, from the older fog type as well as the wand type applicators. (No doubt many still use the old reliable wand type?) Maybe someone here who has experience with this new battery type applicator will chime in. I?m interested as well.

Phillip

[beesnweeds]

I have the first version of the 18v InstantVap made for Milwaukee batteries.  I've had it 2 years now and it's been great.  The only issue is in cold weather sometimes the brass pipe can get clogged if you don't keep it hot.  Simple fix is to just hit it with a torch.  The model Binnie has they seem to struggle with getting the unit in the opening of the hive.  The original model fits perfectly in the opening of a hive with no problems, you don't need to hold onto it.  The polystyrene hive (BeeBox) I have I do have to hold the unit place while its vaporizing but it's not a big deal.  On the other hand, if a beekeeper had all poly hives it would be harder to use.  I would probably build something to hold it in place, so it didn't melt the poly.

[Lesgold]

When I get one, I was planning on designing a device that would close the hive entrance  and support the unit at the same time. Got the idea in my head, just can?t make it until I have the fogged in front of me.

[beesnweeds]

When I get one, I was planning on designing a device that would close the hive entrance  and support the unit at the same time. Got the idea in my head, just can?t make it until I have the fogged in front of me.

You'll figure it out when you get one.  I would think someone is working on a vaporizer thats less expensive and holds more than 4 grams.  Or at least I hope so.

[Lesgold]

Hitting a colony twice in a row to get the dose up wouldn?t be a problem if you only have a small number of hives. It would be a bit painful if you had a few hundred or more to treat.

[Ben Framed]

Thanks for putting up the clip Phillip. The digital version is already being used in Australia by some of the larger beekeepers in areas where varroa is present. Although not legal to use it yet, it will be a commonly used tool in the fight to keep mite numbers down. This is what I will be using when it is able to be used. Although quite expensive, it will pay for itself within the first year where we will have to treat quite a few times due to huge mite numbers building quickly. It can be purchased with a number of different battery options.  For example, I run all Makita gear and will buy one to suit my batteries. This will keep costs down as well in relation to batteries and chargers. The units take a bit over 1AH of power to heat up before the first use so even a 3AH battery should give enough power to treat 7 or 8 hives. I have a small inverter in the back of my ute that will easily allow batteries to charge while I?m working on hives. Bob?s generator would be a good option for a situation where quite a few people are using the units.

Les what is the holdup on the legal use of it?

[Ben Framed]

Lesgold
Although not legal to use it yet, it will be a commonly used tool in the fight to keep mite numbers down.

Max you seem to be in the know. Why are the officials who make up your rules, dragging their feet on this?

[NigelP]

One thing I found when vaping to control varroa were a few rogue hives where the counts simply didn't go down. This was using a sublimox which is referred to as a positive pressure vaper as it expels the vapour forcefully into the hive.  My vaping was based on 4 vapes spread 5 days apart. Worst case was one hive needed 10 vapes before number of varroa dropping was deemed satisfactory. And most apiary sites had at least one of these rogues often requiring 6-7 vapes i. Whilst the stuff for vaping (OA) is not expensive, the kit  for dong it effectively is and also my time is precious and some of my sites are 30 minute drives each way. This was taking me far to much time to be a viable method for me.
So went for regime of 3 years with Apivar strips, followed by 3 years with Apistan strips to avoid any  problems with mite resistance.
Not cheap, but dead easy to use as takes seconds to add a couple of strips per hive, leave for 6-8 weeks and remove. Checking mite drops is the only arduous bit but my trays take seconds to pull and count the dead mites.

[Ben Framed]

It's good you brought this up Nigel. Good points.
You may recall we were talking about this before. I think Coolbees did well with his experimentation concerning the use of  OA.  It is my opinion our Australian beekeepers would do well to seek the whole topic the following was taken from.

 

... Treatment day 1 then wait till day 7 retreat. The problem is Varroa exiting their capped cells between days 2 and 6....

I also do 3-day treatment cycles with OAV, for exactly the reason you state. Only, I usually try to treat 9 times (27 day total).

I did mite counts and sticky board drop counts on every hive during treatment - for 2 years. I collected all the data. Based on that data, I now: treat in August (once yearly) & don't count mites. This is what has worked for me, in my area. My bees don't get a brood break due to winter, but they do have a dearth from August till November.

My average mite drop counts would look like this (counted on the 3rd day after each treatment, just prior to the next treatment):
900
900
900
450
300
300
280
320
18

As you can see, the last 2 or 3 treatments seemed to catch a goodly qty of mites, before the drop counts really fell.

I know they say that OAV "stays effective" for 3 days, but my notes showed very little increase in mite drops after about 30 hours post-treatment. Suggesting to me that efficacy drops off quickly.

My data definitely has proven - to me - that a 7-day OAV treatment cycle would not work. Fwiw.