Well tolerated by bees and queens and easy to apply long-term protection.
THYMOVAR® is best used directly after the honey harvest. It is a well-tolerated reliable treatment and also recommended after short treatments with organic acids for long lasting protection against re-infestation.
Easy and safe to use also for swarms and nuclei in small hives.
Application
Remove honey frames for harvest. Provide the bees with enough food for the treatment duration of 4 weeks. THYMOVAR® strips will be cut or broken in two pieces for easy placement. Best results are seen at temperatures of 20 °C to 25 °C and a distance of the strips to the brood cells of 4 to 10 cm. Do start with a reduced dose when temperatures of >+30 °C are to be expected in the first 3 days of the treatment. and complete the dosage after three days to one week. Leave 1–2 cm space over the strips to allow good evaporation of the active thymol. Remove the used strips after 3–4 weeks. After a pause of one week for the replenishing of the food you start the second treatment.
Treatment profile
Thymol works with a retarded action. Increased fall of Varroa will be observed after two days. Due to the long duration of the treatment Varroa mites hidden in sealed cells will be reached and exposed to thymol vapours as soon as they emerge with the newly hatched bees. For sufficient evaporation the elevated temperature over brood cells is essential. Bees will retract from the strips when evaporation becomes too strong. This may lead to the buildup of bee clusters in front of the hive entrance on a hot day at the beginning of a treatment. Bees will try to remove the strips by nibbling the used sponge. In some cases the strips will be partly covered with propolis to reduce the evaporation.