Apivar strips going in now the honey's off — where in the brood nest, how many strips, and when do I recheck?
Supers came off my five colonies in Devon last week, all extracted, so Apivar is going in this weekend for the first time — I've used thymol the last three autumns and want to rotate. Washes ranged from 3 to 7 per 300, the 7 being the big double-brood colony.
The label says one strip per five frames of bees, which I get in principle, but the practical bits: do the strips hang in the middle of the brood nest or at the edges? For the double brood, do I put strips in both boxes? And is it 42 days or 56 — I've seen both quoted — and do I wash again while they're in or only after they come out? Can I run syrup feeders at the same time? Sorry for the list, I just don't want to waste a treatment window on a placement mistake.
#apivar#amitraz#varroa#fall-treatment
▲ 11 votes💬 4 replies✅ Solved
4 replies
BuckfastLinda · Sep 8, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer
Placement: in the brood nest where the bees are, so they walk over the strips constantly — amitraz works by contact. I hang one between frames 3 and 4 and one between 7 and 8 of a brood box, straddling the cluster. Count frames of bees, not frames of box: your double brood with bees on 16 frames gets 3 or 4 strips, split between the boxes where the brood is. Minimum 42 days, out by 56 — I leave them the full 8 weeks. Halfway through, check they're still in the cluster; the nest shrinks in autumn and a strip in empty comb does nothing. Wash AFTER removal, a week later. Feeding is fine.
MieleMarco · Sep 8, 2026
Everything BuckfastLinda said. One Tuscan addition: amitraz has been used here for decades and we have colonies where it no longer works well. So do a wash at three or four weeks in as well — if the count has not dropped noticeably by then, don't just wait out the 56 days hoping. Switch class. A wasted autumn is a dead colony in February.
PerthshireBees · Sep 8, 2026
Double brood in Perthshire: I do exactly what BuckfastLinda describes, two in the lower box and two in the upper when the bees cover both. Handle with gloves, they're impregnated plastic, and put the date on the roof in marker pen so you actually pull them on time. Strips forgotten over winter is how resistance gets bred.
DevonBees_Em · Sep 9, 2026
Perfect, thank you. Went in Saturday: two strips in each of the singles, four in the double split across the boxes, dates on the roofs. Feeders on the same visit. I'll wash the double at the four-week mark like MieleMarco suggests and post the number.