Bee Health Tools

For control and treatment of Varroa mites.

Recommended treatment of 2 strips per 10 frame brood box. 
1 x PACKET contains 10 Apivar Strips 
For large orders, please email Russell for a sharp price. russell@beequip.nz
Include delivery address and phone so we can quote the best freight rates.

Protect your bee colony against attack from mites with the Apivar Varroa treatment. The active substance in this treatment is proven safe for your brood and hive products.  
 
These strips are manufactured to consistently release the right amount of substance to effectively control mite infestation. The slow release technology ensures effective coverage throughout your hive for a long period. 
 
Apivar Bee Varroa Mite Strips work by releasing Amitraz, an ingredient that is highly toxic for mites yet totally safe for your honey, beeswax, brood, and queen. It won’t leave any residue in your hive products and will keep your hive healthy and happy. 

PLEASE NOTE: Carton lots may take 2-3 working days to dispatch 

Contact the Beequip team regarding Apivar urgent enquiries or further information on your order.   

Frequently Asked Questions: 

Why do I need to treat my bees for mites?

We already know that bees play a vital role in both the eco system and economy. This is why looking after them and ensuring their health as a species is crucial. 

Mites like the Varroa mite feed off bees in their larva stage. This introduces a number of harmful bacteria and diseases to bees in your hive. This weakens your entire colony putting them at risk and perpetuating the spread of mites into other colonies.   

What affect do the mites have on bees?

Larva that has been attacked by Varroa mites can suffer from: 

• Shorter life spans

• Deformed wings

• Poor immune systems

• Feeding issues

• Mating complications

• Lower pesticide resistance

All of the above make it significantly harder for bees to perform their duty in a hive and thus make it harder for the hive to survive. 

What are Varroa mites?

Varroa mites are parasites that externally attack the Honeybee. Through exportation over decades these mites have come in contact with colonies of both Asian and European Honeybee’s. 

The mites cause disease in hives known as Varroatosis and are understood to be a leading cause of colony collapse disorder. 

How do I know if I need to treat my hive?

As these mites are incredibly small they are often hard to detect. If your colony is heavily infested they will show obvious symptoms however, if infestation levels are low or just starting out the symptoms can be much harder to spot.  

It is advised to routinely check your hives around the change in seasons ( once in spring and once in autumn per year). 

How Do I Check for Mites?

You can check for Varroa mites in a number of ways including: 

• Mite catchment strips

• Sugar dusting

• Alcohol wash

• Uncapping

Make sure you do your research and find out which method of testing will work best for your hive. 

How Do I Treat My Hive With Apivar Strips?

Apivar strips are one of the most easy and effective forms of treatment against varroa mites.  

How to use Apivar strips:

Simply remove the strips from their packaging and separate them. Each strip has hanging hooks cut into them. Hang each strip between comb frames in the bee cluster. It is best to allow a minimum of two frames between each strip.  

Leave strips to hang for at least 8 weeks and up to 10 weeks. Make sure to dispose of after use. While your strips are in, be sure to keep an eye on the brood nest cluster. if the cluster moves, reposition the strips accordingly for best results.

Sold in Pack of 20 strips .

1 Pack contains 5 sachets of 4 strips.

1 Carton contains 200 sachets of 4 strips

For large orders, please email Russell for a sharp price. russell@beequip.nz
Include delivery address and phone so we can quote the best freight rates.

1 sachet treats 1 x 10 frame brood box.

- Highly effective for controlling Varroa mites.

- easy to use strips

- safe for the beekeeper

- Large contact area

- very little effect on beeswax, propolis and comb honey and bees

Not recommended for use when honey supers are fitted to the beehive.

PLEASE NOTE: Carton lots may take 2-3 working days to dispatch - call us if you want to know exactly when. We will endeavour to get them out you as soon as possible.

Oxalic Acid Dihydrate Crystals. 99.5% 

Can be used for Varroa control in many different ways. One common and effective method is with our Vaporizer

We also sell Glycerine and cardboard or paper strips

500g pottles, 2kg pottles or 25kg Bags

Ensure to reading safety instructions before opening container.

Click here to view our mixing guide for oxalic acid and glycerine

12 volt Oxalic Acid Vaporizer

150w element

Internal cord for easy of use.

Repeat every 4 days for 2 brood cycles to kill any mites that come from capped cells. Alternatively use our Queen Cage Frame to create a period when there is no capped brood. If there is no capped brood, one good application early in morning or late in evening when all the field bees are there will kill virtually all the mites.

Click Here for a battery to use

Click Here for Instructions

Apistan. 10 strips per packet. Price is for a packet of 10 strips.

100 strips per outer packet.

For large orders, please email Russell for a sharp price. russell@beequip.nz
Include delivery address and phone so we can quote the best freight rates.

Use 2 strips per brood box.

PLEASE NOTE: Larger orders may take 2-3 working days to dispatch - call us if you want to know exactly when. We will endeavour to get them out you as soon as possible.

Formic Pro is a formic acid treatment used to control varroa.

Sold in Dose amounts - 1 dose treats 1 hive

Formic pro has several benefits including:

Food grade high density cardboard. 11g.
Can be soaked in Oxalic Acid and Glycerine Solution.
30mm x 388mm with 2 creases for easy folding
Soaks up 23 grams of product.

Minimum order of 20 strips
86 per bundle, 1376 per carton

Soaker crates available for easy soaking of the strips.

The strips are packed in bundles of 86 because that is the ideal number for each slot in the soaker crate. The soaker crates have 6 slots and can soak 516 strips at a time.

Beekeepers have been using Oxalic Acid mixed with Glycerine all over the world for many years. They have found it extremely beneficial to the health of the colony. It can be used at any time of the year and the secret to its effectiveness is to maintain regular treatments. Colonies with high mite loadings have a lot of bees with stab wounds and suffering from virus infections. When Oxalic acid treatments are applied, many of these bees will go outside and die. This has even been observed during the night after a treatment on the previous day. If most of the bees are healthy, virtually zero adult bee mortality is observed.

Beequip run their own beehives for research and development and all the staff at Beequip have beekeeping experience. Oxalic acid solutions have been extensively researched and tested to maximise the results. The current economic challenges require most beekeepers to look at reducing costs wherever possible. All the products on this page have been developed to maintain healthy hives and to reduce the costs involved to achieve this. The cardboard strips are a new product release and are extremely environmentally friendly. When ready for removal, they can be left in front of the hive to kill weeds and harmlessly rot away. And they are very cheap!
Equipment has been developed to make it easy to safely soak the cardboard or paper laminates and very easy to drain off excess solution. Full mixing instructions are supplied when these products are purchased. The strips are stored in convenient tubs with clip on lids, and can be safely carried around on the back of the ute at all times. New strips can be fitted in seconds while the beekeeper is carrying out their usual routine duties.

For maximum dose, use 3 - 4 strips per BB (brood box). Locate next to brood. The bees must walk on it. A very effective treatment routine could typically be as follows. 3 strips per BB early Aug. Repeat in Sep and Oct. 3 strips per hive in Nov when adding honey supers. 3 strips per BB early Feb when removing honey crop. Repeat in March. 3 strips per hive when wintering down early May. Every area will have its own unique aspects to consider. Some areas with require less treatments than this example. It is very important to conduct mite tests to ascertain what is happening. 

Click here  to view our mixing guide for oxalic acid and glycerine

Apiguard Thymol Gel.

The Thymol scent is very powerful at killing any Varroa mites that are in the hive but not in capped brood.

50g tray - Use one tray per hive per application.

3kg Tub - Comes with measuring scoop - 50g per application

Full instructions are included with each dispatch.

Recommended application:- Put 50g (there is a measuring scoop that comes with the tub) on a supplied card on top of the upper most brood box with a spacer rim or empty super. 

The bees take the gel out of the hive. That activity spread the vapours through the brood box. 

Repeat the procedure 2 weeks later with another 50g dose. 

PLEASE NOTE: Larger orders may take 2-3 working days to dispatch - call us if you want to know exactly when. We will endeavour to get them out you as soon as possible.

Top quality glycerine derived from Rape seed and Soya bean.

Conforms to USP43, which means it is suitable for food and pharmaceutical applications.

7Ah Sealed Battery

Not for Commercial Vaporizing

Will do approximately 10 vapour sessions successfully (2min each) before it should be recharged.

Click Here to buy the Vaporizer

Click Here to buy a Battery Charger for this battery.

For efficient Varroa Mite control in beehives when using Oxalic Acid for treatment.

For full depth brood boxes. 3/4 depth versions also available.

Oxalic acid treatments do not usually kill the mites that are inside capped brood cells. There is now a very efficient and effective solution!

Lock the queen in this cage to create a brood break period. Treat the hive with Oxalic Acid while there is no capped brood and achieve a very high Varroa kill rate.

See Data Sheet of testing done on this

Oxalic acid can be applied by vaporization, fogging or by the dribble method.

Check this link for more info:-

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/oxalic-acid-questions-answers-and-more-questions-part-1-of-2-parts/

Due to its large size the bees don't feel queenless and are less likely to build queen cells. It has queen excluder sides so that nurse bees can still enter the cage and care for the queen.

There is a large opening under the top cap to release the bees when required. Only 25mm wide at the top and will fit in a standard brood box along with 10 frames with 33mm end bars. The main body of the frame is only 16mm wide so as not to interfere with brood emerging alongside.

The bottom edge is curved on the full depth cage to match the typical shape of the winter cluster.

There are many other applications.

In warmer locations, the queen can be locked up over winter to stop her laying eggs to conserve stores and to stop the Varroa mites from breeding.

Can also be used to bank an extra queen over winter when running 2 queen colonies and the bees are already familiar with 2 queens in the hive.

The top bar is 480mm long. Cage height is 228mm for full depth brood boxes and 175mm high for 3/4 depth.

Top quality product made in Europe from food grade polypropylene.

Stock supplied may be a different colour to what is shown