KentishBee · Kent, UK · Pests & Disease · Sep 18, 2026

Still 6 per 300 after thymol — too late in September to retreat with Apivar before the winter bees are gone?

Third year in Kent, four colonies, and I'm annoyed with myself. Two Apiguard trays, 14 days apart, started on the 8th of August and finished on the 5th of September, ekes on, supers off. Pre-treatment washes were 11, 9, 8 and 6 per 300. Washes yesterday: 6, 4, 5 and 2. Only my smallest colony got under 3. Weather during the first tray was cool, 14-17°C for about ten days, then it warmed up. The strong colonies are on brood-and-a-half. So: is this thymol resistance, did the cool spell wreck the first tray, or am I picking up mites from the untreated hives about 300 m away? And more urgently — what now? Oxalic is out with this much brood, Apivar is six to eight weeks, and I keep reading the winter bees are already being raised. Is there actually any point, or have I missed it?

#varroa#apiguard#apivar#treatment-rotation#alcohol-wash

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1 reply

BuckfastLinda · Sep 18, 2026

Not resistance — thymol has no established field resistance; it's a temperature-and-application product. Apiguard needs ambient temperatures around 15°C and above to evaporate at the intended rate, so 14-17 for the first ten days means the first tray under-delivered, and on brood-and-a-half the vapour is diluted in a bigger space. And yes there's a point: Apivar now, 1 strip per 5 frames of bees in the brood nest, minimum 42 days, out by 56, supers off — read the label. Then one oxalic treatment in the broodless window. Winter bees in Kent are still being raised into early October.

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