Varroa Gard

[kevboab]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience of using Varroa Gard which is being distributed by Crossmoor Products. Allegedly it can be used all year round and has no recorded loss of colonies through winter due to varroa. Is this too good to be true ??? Struggling to find any further info.

I've been sugar dusting regularly and i've just placed monitoring boards in to see where mite levels are at, but i'm at a loss as to what treatment to give if required. I'm very reluctant to go down the harsh chemical road.

Any advice muchly appreciated !!!

[gavin]

Crossmuir is one of several agents for this product. Try here for a full description:

https://www.modernbeekeeping.co.uk/item/178/1-kg-varroa-gard

It is most definitely not 'VMD approved' as the adverts claim. The VMD (currently) turns a blind eye to medicines sold as 'hive sanitisers' as long as no claims to cure disease or treat pests are made, that is as far as any approval goes. In this case even the name of the product implies that it is to be used to treat Varroa, so I would imagine they could be vulnerable to prosecution.

The active ingredients are oxalic acid and thyme oil amongst others, so why not use the readily available treatments that use these compounds? There seems to be a need to keep the Varroa Gard tray topped up with powder through the season and I could see that getting both tedious and messy.

But no, I have no experience of using the product.

Lots of people are reporting low mite numbers this year, so an inefficient method like sugar dusting might allow the bees to get by. You are wise to plan for a back-up treatment though.

hope that helps

Gavin

[Alvearium]

I agree entirely with Gavin. When I saw the advert I went straight to Thorne's but careful reading of the attached blurb did not convince me. I am sticking to Apiguard and Apilife Var strips with good effect. The instructions with Apilife Var are not clear at first reading and it is a bit expensive. Even though night temperatures are low now the daytime temps are OK for the thymol based treatments.
Alvearium