Amicel varroa 220ml (11 hives)

01 · WHEN TO APPLY IT

With little brood, or you are only half treating

Amitraz kills by contact: it acts on the mite's octopamine receptors, and the bees spread it through the nest as they brush the strip. That leaves out every varroa sittingunder the capping, in the brood — it only reaches the ones riding the adult bee. Hence the condition the technical sheet sets,periods of little brood, and hence the treatment stretching to35 days: that is the time the capped brood needs to emerge and leave the mites that come out with it exposed. Applying it in the middle of the spring build-up spends the treatment on a fraction of the problem.

It also clears up a figure that throws you when comparing: Amicel treats with500 mg of amitraz per hive and the plastic strips with the same active substance go to1 g. The manufacturer puts it down to the carrier — bees work cellulose easily and the spread is more efficient.

02 · SOAK AND HANG

10 ml per strip, the evening before

With 11 hives this is a quiet afternoon's work:10 ml per strip with the graduated syringe in the box, spread over one face only and left to soak in. Between that and hanging it there must be6 to 12 hours, which is how long the cellulose takes to spread the product and air off: the strip goes in loaded, never dripping. In Layens it is spread evenly leaving3-4 cm dry at the top, which is where you pick it up; in Langstroth and Dadant it is soaked from the corners in both directions and folded in half to go in. They then go on the frame at thecentre of the brood area, where the bees pass.

03 · SCHEDULE

Day 1, day 12 and day 35 — and all of them at once

First strip on day 1, second on day 12 —they may go in the same spot— and on day 35 both come out, along with any cellulose debris that has fallen to the floor. Together they add up to the500 mg dose, and adding more does not improve the result. And one instruction that small apiaries skip a lot:treat every hive in the apiary at the same time. With 11 hives together, leaving two untreated because «those are fine» means robbing hands the varroa back to the other nine.

04 · HONEY AND HARVEST

Zero days' withdrawal does not authorise harvesting

The technical sheet giveszero days of honey withdrawal and, in the very same section, adds the other half:do not use during the bees' foraging period. They are worth reading together. The first says no waiting period forces you to discard honey; the second says when it may be used, and that isoutside the honey flow — exactly what the mode of action already required. In practice: supers off, at the close of the season.

⚠ PRECAUTIONS

Prepare and place the strips wearingrubber gloves. Amitraz can have neurological effects in humans and is amonoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI): if you take MAOI medication, take extra care. Do not eat, drink or smoke while handling it.

Do not exceed10 ml per strip and do not reuse the strips. The technical sheetsets no minimum temperature whatsoever for application: if you have read a figure in degrees, it does not come from there. What does govern it is the bees being able to walk the strip — with the colony clustered, contact drops and efficacy with it.

05 · SUPPLY AND PACK SIZES

Amicel Varroa is aprescription-only veterinary medicine and is administered under veterinary supervision or control. Because of that status itcannot be supplied by distance selling: this page is informational and does not process any purchase. As for packs, this bottle of220 ml with 22 strips covers 11 hives; the1 litre with 100 strips, 50.