SourwoodGrace · North Carolina, US · Pests & Disease · Oct 29, 2026

Storing leftover treatments over winter and getting rid of used strips — what's actually the right practice?

North Carolina, third year. Tidying the bee shed and I've realised I've been careless with treatment products. What I found. Half a packet of strips from this autumn, resealed with a clothes peg. A part-used tub of something from last year, undated. A sealed foil packet that's two seasons old. And a bin bag with this year's used strips in it, sitting in the corner of the shed where my dog goes. What I think the answers are, and would like confirmed by people who do this properly. Keep everything in its original packaging with the label attached, because the label is the instructions and the legal document. Store cool, dark and dry, out of reach of children and animals, not next to honey or feed. Note the date opened, because most products have a much shorter life once the foil is broken, and the label states it. Don't keep part-packets past what the label allows and don't decant anything into unlabelled containers, ever. Disposal is where I'm least sure. Used strips: the label on mine says dispose of in accordance with local requirements, which isn't much help.

#treatments#storage#disposal#shed-safety

▲ 6 votes 💬 4 replies ✅ Solved

4 replies

ImkerinLena · Oct 29, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer

Your list is right, and the key sentence is that the label is the legal document — for storage, for shelf life after opening and for disposal. Where the label refers you to local requirements, your national or regional authority publishes them; here veterinary medicine waste goes to a specific collection and not into household rubbish. Ask your bee inspector or the vet supply that sold it. And never decant, never re-use an old packet for a new product, and write the opening date on the foil.

GeorgiaWes · Oct 29, 2026

Georgia. Add one: keep the leaflet, not just the box. I've watched people at meetings argue about application details with the leaflet sitting in a landfill somewhere. And the dog corner is the real finding in your post — anything with an active ingredient goes in a latched box above head height in my shed.

AlpineCarnica · Oct 29, 2026

Tyrol. The undated tub is the one I'd deal with first: an unidentified part-used product with no date is worthless and slightly dangerous. Don't guess with it, dispose of it properly and buy fresh. Products degrade, and an under-strength treatment is worse than none because it selects for resistance without controlling the mites.

SourwoodGrace · Oct 30, 2026

Called our extension office this morning and they do have a route for it, so the tub and the used strips are going there on Friday. Latched box ordered. Thanks for being blunt about it.

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