Vaporizer Varrox EDDY® with battery

01 · THE BATTERY IS THE POINT

15 hives a charge, then you wait

The 18 V lithium-ion battery is interchangeable and covers around 15 hives per charge — the maker puts the range at 10 to 20 depending on conditions. A full recharge takes 2 to 4 hours.

That figure plans your day: past fifteen hives a second battery stops being an extra and becomes what saves you half an afternoon. They are sold separately.

02 · WHAT MEDICINE IT TAKES

Registered oxalic powder, and there are two

What you vaporise has to be an authorised veterinary medicine. In Spain two 0.71 g/g oxalic acid powders are registered for hives: Api-Bioxal and Varroxal. Which product is authorised depends on the country — check your national register.

And one detail worth knowing: the Varroxal data sheet names the Varrox and the Varrox Eddy among the vaporisers it is applied with. This is not a device that happens to be compatible — it is named in the medicine's own documentation.

03 · WHAT IS IN THE CASE

Vaporiser, one battery and the charger

It ships in a plastic case with the vaporiser, one battery and the charger. Additional batteries are ordered separately.

It is designed for entrances 15 mm high and 90 mm wide, the dimension of fixed-comb Dadant and Langstroth hives. Treatment goes in through the entrance, without opening the hive, and the cycle is followed by the LEDs from a sensible distance: one button starts it and the electronics govern temperature and time.

04 · PROTECTION

The smoke is particles, not a gas

What leaves the vaporiser is oxalic acid recondensed into very fine particles. You need respiratory protection with a particle filter, sealed goggles, acid-resistant gloves and long sleeves — an organic vapour filter does not hold this.

Work downwind and do not open the hive straight afterwards. Improper use of the product is the responsibility of whoever applies it.

05 · WHEN TO VAPORISE

Broodless, and in the cold window

Oxalic acid kills on contact and does not go through the capping, so the evaporation route is indicated in broodless colonies — autumn and winter.

The dose per hive and the outdoor temperature window — of the order of 2 to 10 °C for evaporation — are set by the data sheet of the medicine you are using, not by the device.

06 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Check your entrance: it is designed for 15 × 90 mm. And count on a second battery if you are going past fifteen hives in one go.