Following-on from my earlier post, I will now show the reader how to apply Apiguard which is a bee medicine. Apiguard comes in the form of a can that sits on top of the brood frames. Because of the height of the can, above 20mm an eke is required to raise the height between the brood box and the crown board.
Apiguard comes in a can with a foil lid which peels off. The bees then walk over the medicine contained within the can.
I am still continuing to feed the bees with a rapid feeder. To help the bees reach the feeder which sits on the crown board over the eke, I am placing a off-cut from the eke on top of the brood frames.
Before I begin to open-up the hive, I have thoroughly cleaned the varroa board with soda water. I do this so when I return to the hive next week it will be easily visible what effect the Apiguard has had.
I dismantle the hive back to the brood box.
I place the eke on the brood box.
I place the block of wood in the centre of the hive so it is near to the hole in the crown board.
I open the can of Apiguard, with the medicine face-up and positioning it in the corner of the eke.
I insert a porter escape in the second hole in the crown board, but leave the centre hole open for the rapid feeder. I want the bees to feed but I don’t want them to reside in the super because I want all of them to get into contact with the Apiguard.
I place the feeder over the centre hole and top-up the feeder with syrup.
I place the super on top of the crown board to accommodate the rapid feeder.
I place the roof on the hive. I shall return next week to the hive to see how the Apiguard is progressing.
UPDATE 14 SEPTEMBER 2012 – See the next blog called Varroa Mite Control Part 3: Second Tin of Apiguard
That’s the cleanest varroa board that I ever saw! 🙂 A great post on applying apiguard, thanks!
Unless your bees need emergency feeding you might want to delay beginning your autumn feeding until the Apiguard’s over. The Vita FAQs at http://www.vita-europe.com/wp-content/uploads/VitaApiguardFAQ201208.pdf say:
8. Q: Can I feed my colonies whilst using Apiguard?
A: Yes and No. The recommendation is not to apply Apiguard whilst feeding simultaneously in case the bees spend all their time taking the feed and not bothering to clean out the Apiguard gel. This is not a high risk and will vary between different colonies, so if you have to feed and treat at the same time, try it in a few colonies first and see how the bees react.
Best wishes
Emily
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