Description
2 Trays per hive Recommended
Apiguard is a varroa treatment used by beekeepers to help keep their colonies healthy by reducing the varroa mite count inside the bee hive. Apiguard is a widely used and very popular treatment for Varroa Mites and Tracheal Mites because it is considered organic without any known resistance from Varroa Mites.
Apiguard uses a naturally occurring substance derived from the Thyme plant called Thymol. The gel in the Apiguard trays or tubs has the thymol-based miticide suspended and is slowly released over the course of 14 days.
It is important to harvest honey and remove your honey supers from the colony before the treatment period. There should not be any honey for human consumption on the hive when the Apiguard is added. Apiguard is not designed to be used during the honey season when honey boxes are present.
Most beekeepers use Apiguard because it is an organic, soft chemical and is much easier on the bees than the hard chemicals like Checkmite or chemicals other beekeepers have used in the past. Spring, Summer and Fall are the ideal times to use apiguard gel as it requires the adult bees to touch and move the product around the colony. The gel will stick to the worker bees body hairs who move the gel around before the worker eventually throws it out. Most beekeepers use Apiguard immediately after honey harvest in the summer when only the brood box or boxes are left.
Apiguard should only be used when your varroa mite levels are above the treatment threshold where beekeeper interference is needed to help the colony. You can check for mite levels using a Varroa EasyCheck which is very helpful for checking mite levels when considering a mite treatment.