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British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • APITRAZ 500mg - Short Date 03/08/21

  • Honeybee pests and diseases.
Honeybee pests and diseases.
 #11598  by NigelP
 28 Jul 2021, 18:02
Bee equipment are selling short date amitraz (same as Apivar) at less than £10 for 10 strips. Short date...August 3rd but how likely is to degrade much further before using this season. This is for those who are happy to apply effective miticide treatment to their hives to get rid of varroa. Many know how "annoyed" I can get at let alone beekeeping when it comes to varroa treatment.
https://bee-equipment.co.uk/search?type=product&q=apitraz
 #11600  by Steve 1972
 29 Jul 2021, 09:40
I have four packs getting delivered today which will be going straight in the bottom of the fridge till it's time to treat..I used the stuff last year and I found it very effective..
 #11602  by AdamD
 29 Jul 2021, 11:41
Thanks Nigel,
Even with a delivery charge, one pack is cheaper than a long-date pack.
As you say, using it a few days later isn't going to be a problem although treatment time is upon us in any case.

I did find some very out of date (3 years past it), Apilife Var - a different kind of product I know - at an apiary where I used to help someone; once opened it had a strong aroma and gave a good mite drop.
 #11606  by NigelP
 29 Jul 2021, 17:53
Yes, not sure what they charged you for postage Adam but was over £9 for the 6 packs I bought....which I thought was a bit OTT for todays postal or courier prices. However still a 1/3 of the cost of "in date" equivalents so won't complain too much.
 #11609  by MickBBKA
 30 Jul 2021, 01:27
Never seen such lack of sign of varroa as this year. most of my colonies had a brood break in May as the weather in April and May was dreadful and many were starving by then. I can only presume the weather had a beneficial effect for the colonies as far as varroa was concerned. No doubt there will be some whining by the powers that be about the use of out of date miticides when they are recorded on the medicines register that we all keep up to date :D
 #11613  by Patrick
 30 Jul 2021, 11:10
Steve 1972 wrote:Very intersring read here regarding out of date strips.. ;)

https://scientificbeekeeping.com/6501-2/
It certainly is Steve. That strips months old (after being opened and applied) which had been left further months on the floor of a truck during the summer were still giving really high mite mortality doses says something about the very low degradation of toxicity of the chemical used and its persistence. Also shows you do need to dispose of this stuff carefully! On your packs is it an indicative sell by / use before / whatever expiry date?

I have had leftover MAQs strips from two years previously which when found and opened still smelled strongly. I didn't actually apply them as although they looked ok, I could not tell how the soft gel strip might have degraded and how that might affect the formic acid vapour release. My suspicion is they would have been fine.
 #11622  by Alfred
 30 Jul 2021, 19:10
Im not 100 percent on board with that Patrick.
I sterilise broodframes before reusing them in an old deepfreeze with acetic acid.
Once the bottle is opened Im sure it degrades as the expiry date suggests (and it freezes which is a royal pain)
A new bottle is intolerable to the snout but the previous years dregs are just a bit less unpleasant - not much stronger than white vinegar
I know its formic acid within Maqs but the same could easily apply.
The underlying concern with questionable expiry dates is that we gradually breed acid-resistant mites-we are virtually vaccinating the genetically elite specimens.