Hmm, a day after we put the feeder on, we couldnt resist going to see how much our diligent bees would have consumed.
As we lifted the roof, they continued in their extremely drowsy meanderings without paying us the least attention. NO syrup had been consumed, and we eventually concluded that we must have positioned the feeder incorrectly - misaligning it with the hole in the crownboard. It is now adjusted, we drizzled a bit over the top of the brood chamber to let them know it is there, and we will try and check it before the weekend.
And now for the second error... I was rereading Gerald Fisher's chapter on putting the bees to bed and he explains a little bit about the way Apiguard works. Apparently the thymol evaporates and is heavier than air. This means that it sinks to the bottom of the hive - and why you need either to have a solid floor - or have your tray in... Needless to say we dont (we had taken it out after the 2nd varroa check). So, does this render the first 4-5 days of treatment pointless and can we just get away with sticking the tray back in sharpish?!
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Sorry Pia, I don't know the answer to that but I would be interested if you get an answer. Can you contact the suppliers for their advice or even DEFRA? Interestingly, I was given some thymol recently by a friend to add to the winter syrup solution and it helps to prevent the development of a fungal growth over the winter - approx 1/2 cap to a gallon - so I'm probably going to try that.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the first time I used one of these feeders, I too had it filled and inverted BEFORE I realised I hadn't marked where it was going to sit on the crownboard! Doh!!
Best of luck against those pesky varroa...
I'm not sure, but I'd say the first few days are not pointless, no. I doubt you need to be precise with the length of Apiguard application anyway. For instance, my association told me to put 2 doses in, 2 weeks apart, and I see a similar instruction on the packet. However, I know of another local assocation who advise members to put each dose in for 3 weeks. I put my second dose in just after the 2 weeks, and there was still a little Apiguard left in the first trays. Also, I don't think you'll get totally rid of the mites in any case - it's more of a treatment to reduce numbers before the onset of autumn. I think best to persevere with the 2 treatments as you were (perhaps leaving the first dose on for a couple of extra days if you like) and try to block up the hives. Another tactic to achieve this is to put your entrance reducer in, and check the rest of your box(es) are hole-less.
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