# Apivar treatment in winter?



## Enzzzo (Sep 5, 2018)

1st year beekeeper with what has been a healthy hive going into winter although I failed to do any mite treatment. Now, I’m believe I’m seeing mites on the inspection board. 

Our winters can be somewhat mild here in N. GA regularly in the 50s. Question is if it’s OK to apply Apivar strips this time of year? The directions say honey supers must be removed? Is that for the sake of not contaminating the bees food source or to ensure harvested honey for human consumption isn’t contaminated?

Any advice is appreciated!


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## psm1212 (Feb 9, 2016)

Apivar is not temperature dependent, so you can insert strips during winter. Apivar is a contact miticide, so the reduced movement within the hive might lessen how effective the treatment will be. You will need to put the strips in the brood frames. If no brood frames, in the cluster. Again, you will be wasting money if the strips are not in direct contact with the bees. Frames of honey present in the hive when treated with Apivar should never be extracted for human consumption. It is fine for the bees eat. 

Apivar is a very slow treatment that takes weeks to gain good effect. If you already have a severe mite infestation, you need a quicker treatment. Most beekeepers will use Oxalic Acid Vaporization at this time of year because: 1. It is not temperature dependent; 2. Usually very little or no brood present; and 3. No need to open your hive to treat. 

I would try to find a local beekeeper who would be willing to come over and do an OAV treatment of your hive for you.


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## Susie Bee Queen (Oct 26, 2020)

psm1212 said:


> Apivar is not temperature dependent, so you can insert strips during winter. Apivar is a contact miticide, so the reduced movement within the hive might lessen how effective the treatment will be. You will need to put the strips in the brood frames. If no brood frames, in the cluster. Again, you will be wasting money if the strips are not in direct contact with the bees. Frames of honey present in the hive when treated with Apivar should never be extracted for human consumption. It is fine for the bees eat.
> 
> Apivar is a very slow treatment that takes weeks to gain good effect. If you already have a severe mite infestation, you need a quicker treatment. Most beekeepers will use Oxalic Acid Vaporization at this time of year because: 1. It is not temperature dependent; 2. Usually very little or no brood present; and 3. No need to open your hive to treat.
> 
> I would try to find a local beekeeper who would be willing to come over and do an OAV treatment of your hive for you.


If you already have problems with varroa mites, you will probably need more than one OAV treatment, you will probably need treatment every three days until you see drastic reduction in mites. I did it 5 times but still have a lot of mites. I use a bottom screen board to monitor mites, after the last treatment, I see about 100 mites dropping on the board. I am considering using Aprivar just because I don't seem to have the problem under control. The bees are healthy now, but I don't think they will survive the winter with a high mite count.


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