# Apivar



## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

I have 10 packs still sealed up from 2yrs ago.
Anybody know shelf life for Apivar?


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

it should say some where that it's 24 months from date of manufacture, and the date of manufacture is on the front if I remember correctly.


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

Thanks wildbranch


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Unless they have been somewhere hot I would think their shelf life would be indefinite. As long as they weren't opened. As you said. If you decide to toss them, let me know. I'll pay the shipping and handling charge.


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

I was hoping to use it.
Thanks Mark


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

sqkcrk said:


> Unless they have been somewhere hot I would think their shelf life would be indefinite. As long as they weren't opened. As you said. If you decide to toss them, let me know. I'll pay the shipping and handling charge.


Sent you a PM


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

I knew there was a reason I was hanging on to this.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Colobee, I have a ten foot pole I wouldn't touch that with. But thanks. That you can send to the land fill.


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## Colobee (May 15, 2014)

Or somebody that doesn't want to pay ML's $210...  
& I hear you, I feel the same way about ALL of that stuff (& thus the relic). 

You say it may work on SHB? Fortunately I have no experience with those, either.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Colobee said:


> I knew there was a reason I was hanging on to this.
> View attachment 23253


They are still selling that apistan and checkmite to the uneducated too. No shb here either.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

Vance G said:


> They are still selling that apistan and checkmite to the uneducated too. No shb here either.


I used the Apistan once a few years ago and got a good kill. It was too late and too cold for FA, and I wasn't willing to do nothing. I wouldn't use it *all* the time, since it has been documented that resistance can grow with repeated use, but assuming that *all* mites are currently resistant to it is not correct, in my opinion.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

Apistan works as an emergency tool, and as a "positive control" for testing. It is very effective in clearing Varroa from small nucs, as it has minimal side effects toward the queens. Like most of the pyrethroids, it is very fast acting -- you see knockdown in 24 hours.

Folks who have agitated against the use of *any* treatment have promulgated the myth that resistance is universal and irreversible. Resistance is not set in stone. The research shows that the resistance mechanism is fragile, and on a regional level, when the chemical is removed, resistance drops off quickly.
Read this documentation -- http://rothamsted.ac.uk/news/new-tool-management-varroa-mites-bee-hives

Was it appropriate to dose every single commercial hive with tau-fluvalinate. No. Widespread use of the pyrethroids (including the "organic" natural extracts) encourage resistance. Strategic use does not.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

JWChesnut said:


> Resistance is not set in stone. The research shows that the resistance mechanism is fragile, and on a regional level, when the chemical is removed, resistance drops off quickly.
> Read this documentation -- http://rothamsted.ac.uk/news/new-tool-management-varroa-mites-bee-hives


Good find. For those capable of comprehending it, the actual paper is here:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082941


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

I'm curious if anyone can name a single treatment used by beekeepers that is only used 'strategically' and not generally applied to every hive?


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## NeilV (Nov 18, 2006)

Burning hives with American foulbrood.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I think as long as your Apivar was stored at room temp and unopened it should be fine. As always I would do some mite counts after use to make sure it worked. 

I used some Apistain this past spring (January) with very good results. I have never used it before, Apivar is my favorite miticide. But, I did not want to keep using it over and over. So i switched up to Apistain. My reasoning was since I had never used it my mites shouldn't be resistant. And so far that seems to be the case. I did some counts this past week and was very happy with the results.


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

I have used Apivar in the past, and like you JohnB I had good results.
Thanks to everyone for your input.


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