# Apistan Strips



## Jim Ray (Dec 7, 2008)

Is it ever too late in the fall to medicate with Apistan strips?

My bees are not in the winter cluster, yet, but would it matter if they were?


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Just make sure you've already harvested the honey that you need and left them with plenty to survive. Some recommend the fall feeding and definitely in spring. Honey Bee Healthy has several essential oils (all natural) that act like an Apistan treatment. I put an ounce of HBH into the syrup mixture and left the Apistan on the shelf. Unless you can see a Varroa mite problem or tracheal issue, I wouldn't use it.


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## magnet-man (Jul 10, 2004)

> Honey Bee Healthy has several essential oils (all natural) that act like an Apistan treatment.


I wouldn't go that far. It is not too late to use Apistan, just make sure you are done with your honey harvest.


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## Jim Ray (Dec 7, 2008)

Thanks. They got HBH a few weeks ago, but I think I'll use the Apistan strips now.


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

Varroa shows a high resistance to apistan. You should make sure you know your drop numbers before treatment and then do a test early in the treatment to see if it is working. The drop numbers should increase drastically. If they do not, you need to change your treatment method.

Apistan and Check mite are both showing as not working great. If you do not know your numbers and know if the treatment is working, you will end up with problems in the spring...like dead outs or really poor doing hives.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>Honey Bee Healthy acts like an Apistan treatment . . .
No it does NOT. There is no similarity.

>Unless you can see a Varroa mite problem or tracheal issue . . .
Apistan has no effect on tracheal mites. Never has, never will.

Apistan strips must remain in hive for a specified length of time. Make sure expected weather conditinons at the PLANNED removal date will allow you to enter hive.

Now, this time of year, seems very late for Apistan use. Did you do some kind of treatment earlier?


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## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Dave W,

Apistan has a chemical called fluvalinate in it which is an insecticide highly toxic to many fish & insects. 

Look at this site: http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/dienochlor-glyphosate/fluvalinate-ext.html

Why would anyone want to use chemicals to feed their bees ?

Honey-B-Healthy has natural oils that deter certain insects without the toxicity.


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## Troutsqueezer (May 17, 2005)

Now is when you should be removing the Apistan strips that were put in 6 weeks ago. It is too late to put them in now for most areas.


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## mike bispham (May 23, 2009)

honeyshack said:


> Varroa shows a high resistance to apistan. You should make sure you know your drop numbers before treatment and then do a test early in the treatment to see if it is working. The drop numbers should increase drastically. If they do not, you need to change your treatment method.
> 
> Apistan and Check mite are both showing as not working great. If you do not know your numbers and know if the treatment is working, you will end up with problems in the spring...like dead outs or really poor doing hives.


No kind of treatment will ever work for more than a few years, as the mites will always develop resistance. At the same time, by treating you are denying your bees the opportunity to develop their own resistance. 

If you learn how to work with nature, you can have bees that are untroubled by mites. Proper husbandry mimics natural selection, by breeding from the strong and eliminating the weak. All other forms of organic husbandry do this as a matter of course - beekeepers have no such tradition because in the past wild bees did the work for them. 

Mike


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

My opinion is that it's not too late to try Apistan strips. It might be too late, depending on temps in your area, to expect good results. Whatever you do, please follow the directions. I personally know of beekeepers who harvested late while trying to maximize a late summer / early fall flow. They treated after harvest which was well after Labor Day. Then, they found themselves in cold weather and didn't want to pull the strips due to the cold. It's always unclear whether they were concerned about the bees or themselves being too cold. As a result, the strips stayed until Spring. That's a perfect situation for mites building tolerance.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

It was too late for Apistan strips since about 1996 in Nebraska... the mites have been resistant since then...


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>since about 1996 in Nebraska... the mites have been resistant since then . . .

IF, if mites are NOT exposed to the chemical in Apistan (including strips or other illegal methods), the mites do not remain resistant. After a short period of time (much shorter than the time it took for them to become resistant) the non-resistant genes become dominate again.


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## Troutsqueezer (May 17, 2005)

There ya go, 7 beekeepers, 8 different answers. Welcome to beekeeping.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Jim Ray said:


> Is it ever too late in the fall to medicate with Apistan strips?
> 
> My bees are not in the winter cluster, yet, but would it matter if they were?


The first Apistan strips that I ever installed was done when there was 3 inches of snow on the ground. So, the answer is No, it's not too late. But if they don't work it is a waste of time and money.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Dave W said:


> >since about 1996 in Nebraska... the mites have been resistant since then . . .
> 
> IF, if mites are NOT exposed to the chemical in Apistan (including strips or other illegal methods), the mites do not remain resistant. After a short period of time (much shorter than the time it took for them to become resistant) the non-resistant genes become dominate again.


But, obviously, there have always been some mites who are resistant to fluvalinate (aka Apistan) or it would have killed all of them. No?


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Jim Ray said:


> Is it ever too late in the fall to medicate with Apistan strips?


Yes! For the miticide to work, bees must rub up against the strips and spread the chemical around the broodnest. If the temps are keeping the bees clustered, the strips will be of no use. I stopped using Apistan many years ago when one application a year no longer kept the mites in check around here.


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## Jim Ray (Dec 7, 2008)

By bees are still quite active. El Nino is at work.


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## Dave W (Aug 3, 2002)

>there have always been some mites who are resistant to fluvalinate (aka Apistan) or it would have killed all of them . . .
Come on, YOU know (of all people) better! NOTHING ever kills ALL, not fluvalinate, not OA, not ANY home-made "chemical", and not even small cells .


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Barry said:


> Yes! For the miticide to work, bees must rub up against the strips and spread the chemical around the broodnest. If the temps are keeping the bees clustered, the strips will be of no use.


Generally speaking this is a correct assumption. But another thing about the first time that I installed Apistan strips is that not only was the temperature cold enuf to not melt snow, probably in the 20s or low 30s, but we also installed sticky boards that were to be collected a week or two later. 

So, we installed sticky boards on a couple of hives and then installed the strips in all of them. By the time we were through installing the strips, about 15 to 30 minutes, we checked the first sticky board to see what we would find. The board was plastered w/ mites. So that tells me that Apistan strips have some fumigant quality as well.

Originally we were told to put the two strips between the 3rd and 4th frame and 7th and 8th frame, which may make sense if the bees aren't clustered. But since they were we put the strips in the cluster or on either side.

Later on, years later, if I remember correctly, wasn't the recommendation worded so that the strips were to be installed in opposite corners of each hive body of a two story hive? I never understood how that was supposed to be of use.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Dave W said:


> >there have always been some mites who are resistant to fluvalinate (aka Apistan) or it would have killed all of them . . .
> Come on, YOU know (of all people) better! NOTHING ever kills ALL, not fluvalinate, not OA, not ANY home-made "chemical", and not even small cells .


My point exactly. Resistance has always been around, even before the mites were exposed to the chemical. It's called natural resistance.


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