CO2 dispenser until VarroaTester or Easycheck

01 · WHICH CARTRIDGE

16 g and unthreaded; the threaded one does not fit

The red body pierces plain 16 g CO₂ cartridges, the bicycle tyre ones. Threaded cartridges, the ones the official Véto-pharma dispenser for the EasyCheck uses, do not work here, nor the other way round: look at the neck of the cartridge before buying refills. According to Swienty, one cartridge does about twelve counts.

02 · HOW TO USE IT

Ten seconds of gas, ten of shaking, and the bees come back

About 200 to 300 bees from a brood frame, without the queen, in the tester jar. With the cartridge fitted and the gun closed, put the needle into the jar’s duct and squeeze the trigger slowly, ten to twenty seconds, until the bees fall asleep; shake the jar for ten seconds so they drop the mites, count them on the base, and in twenty to thirty seconds the bees wake up and go back to the hive. Same sample and same movements every time: that is what makes readings comparable.

03 · WHAT IT IS NOT

A count, not a treatment

CO₂ dislodges mites so they can be counted; it cures nothing. The reading is used before and after treating, checked against your local thresholds, and shaking too little or badly leaves it short. The cartridge is under pressure: it is fitted with the gun closed, never pointed at anyone and not removed until empty.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The gun alone is supplied: the unthreaded 16 g cartridge and the counting jar are bought separately.