Many beekeepers are faced with tick-borne diseases of their pets. Parasitic invasion leads to serious lesions of the hymenoptera. Bees lose their ability to fly and die. Especially common and dangerous are ticks of varroa and acarapis. Insects quickly become infected with parasites from each other, and most of the hive inhabitants soon fall ill and die. In such cases, the preparation for bees "Ant" can help. The instruction recommends the use of this tool against acarapis and varroa ticks.
What is the drug?
It has long been noticed that ordinary forest ants are capable of killing bee mites. What is the reason for this? In the body of ants, a special caustic acid is produced, which has a detrimental effect on parasites. On the basis of this substance, in 2001, a medicine for bees "Ant" was developed.
The drug looks like a gel-like mass of translucent color. The active ingredient is formic acid, because of this the medicine has a pungent pungent odor.
The gel is packaged in acid-proof bags. Each package contains 30 g of active ingredient. Sachets (4 pieces) are placed in a bottle with a tightly corked lid.
Drug action
"Ant" refers to acaricidal drugs. This tool destroys adult parasites of varroa and acarapis. Subject to the recommended doses and rules of use, the medicine does not harm the bees.
However, for humans and warm-blooded animals, this drug belongs to the 3rd hazard class. Formic acid is an extremely corrosive substance. If it comes into contact with the skin, it causes severe irritation and poisoning can occur when inhaled vapors. Therefore, when working with the preparation for bees "Ant", the instruction recommends caution.
Formic acid does not penetrate beekeeping products. If the hive was treated with the drug, then this will not affect the quality of honey or propolis. This remedy is much safer than other acaricidal drugs. Formic acid decomposes rapidly in the open.
Indications and for use
Varroatosis and acaracidosis of bees are the main indications for the use of the drug. Formic acid acts on these ticks. It can be noted bactericidal and fungicidal properties of the drug for bees "Ant". The instruction recommends using the product not only for therapeutic, but also for preventive purposes, in order to avoid the appearance of the following parasites and microorganisms:
- wax moth;
- fireboxes;
- Ascophera mold;
- intestinal parasite nozema;
- causative agents of rotten diseases.
Side effects when using the "Ant" was not noted.
How to use the drug?
How to treat bees for varroatosis and acaracidosis with formic acid based? You need to remove the bags of gel from the bottle and put in the hives, placing the drug under the canvas of the upper bars of the frame. In this case, it is necessary to observe the dosage - 1 sachet per 1 family with a strength of 5-12 streets. If the hive is multihull, then 1 package per 1 case will be enough.
Sachets should never be opened. They should lie in their entirety. Vapors of formic acid will be released through the packaging shell and act on pests. When the substance has completely evaporated, the bags must be disposed of by digging them underground to a depth of 30-40 cm. Usually, the gel is completely converted into steam within 3-5 days.
Processing is done 2 times a year. In the spring, after wintering, they inspect the bees, and then immediately you can begin to disinfect the hive using the "Ants". With bee acaracidosis, triple treatment is necessary, and if there are cases of varroatosis in the hive, then it will be enough to apply sachets twice. The intervals between the use of the drug are about 5-7 days.
The second time the treatment is carried out in the summer-autumn period after honey is pumped out. The amount of the drug is the same as in the spring.
Processing is carried out at an air temperature not lower than +12 degrees, but not higher than +25. At the same time, the hive must be well ventilated; openings must be opened: upper and lower. If necessary, propolis should be cleaned.
If the product is used for prophylactic purposes, to prevent the appearance of wax moths and moths in the cell storage, then the bags are placed on top of the frames. In this case, the dosage should be observed: 1-2 sachets per 10-12 frames. Then the storage should be hermetically closed.
Safety precautions
Sometimes novice beekeepers make mistakes when using the drug "Ant" for bees. The instruction says that when processing the hive, it is important to adhere to the following rules:
- Small bee colonies (up to 5 small streets) cannot be processed. Otherwise, the formic acid concentration will be too strong. With a small number of bees, it is impossible to achieve good ventilation, elderly and weakened insects can die.
- An overdose of the drug should not be allowed. If instead of 1 packet per bee colony, 2 packages with gel are used, this can cause overexcitation and sometimes death of insects.
- Handle the hive in the daytime. You should not place bags during rain and inclement weather, otherwise the bees will not be able to ventilate the hive with flapping wings.
- You need to work with the drug in rubber gloves and a respirator. Formic acid fumes can cause inhalation intoxication.
Reviews about the tool
Beekeepers respond positively to the "Ant". They notice a tick scree after the first treatment. In this case, no cases of steaming bees were observed. The drug effectively destroyed parasites, but domestic insects remained healthy.
Many note the convenience of packaging the drug. Formic acid has previously been used in beekeeping to control ticks. She was poured into a jar or a bottle, covered with cardboard on top and left in the hive. But in this case, the effect of the substance was too aggressive, and the beekeeper risked burns and intoxication. The use of an acid in the form of a gel packaged in closed bags made the treatment safer for both the beekeeper and his pets.
Sometimes there are reports of the death of the uterus after treatment. But in such cases, the permissible dosage was exceeded or ventilation was insufficient. When using the product, you need to carefully study the instructions and follow all recommendations.