Anyone Using MAQS Strips This Autumn?

A beekeeping friend and I have treated 50 colonies each year for the past two years and we have not lost a single queen using MAQS. The only thing we noticed was that the queen stopped laying for between 2 and 7 days. Not sure what all the worry and fuss is about. The one thing that worries me is that it is a more expensive treatment per hive than apiguard although there is a slight saving as it requires less visits to the out apiaries.

Erichalfbee said:

No idea...sorry.
You do have to have power, of sorts. Most use batteries and the number of colonies you can do at a time must be limited this way but I have car access right to the hives so use the car battery with the engine on.
Hivemaker does it I think but he has lots of hives and an industrial vaporiser that delivers oxalic under pressure from the top which is supposed to be more effective.....ask him

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I asked our local garage for a used car battery...which still had some life in it. We charged it up overnight. Put it in the wheelbarrow. Our sublimator has bulldog clips so we just connected it up. We did a few trial runs first so we knew what we were doing.
We used some sponge to block off the entrance. Put the sublimator under the OMF on top of a tile.
It was quick and easy ...a few minutes per hive. No need to open the hive.

Anyone out there going to use a sublimator soon? If so can I tag along to help out and learn?

The thing about MAQS is that there is no need to wait until after the harvest.
With Apiguard, you must take your harvest before treating - not so with MAQS.

Hence, if you need a treatment during the honey season, MAQS provides an option.

But, IMHO, its a mistake to wait until after the harvest before using it.

MAQS .. ? enlighten me please i try to spell thing's and abbreviations word for word in my normal life and i won't change now..

Millet said:

MAQS .. ? enlighten me please i try to spell thing's and abbreviations word for word in my normal life and i won't change now..

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Mite away quick strips.

Hivemaker. said:

Please carry on using it everyone,
an excellent varroa treatment.

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An old friend of mine just wrote to see if I might sell him 60 nucleus colonies after he fried his queens and young larvae with MAQS. Wonderful stuff.

Well I put in two MAQS into my hive yesterday. I had to do it around 8pm, which they weren't too pleased about. I have a super on there but the queen hasn't ventured up there yet. I wasn't sure if I should keep it on or not. On one hand I thought that if I took it off then it might decrease the chances of the queen walking over the strips. On the other the brood box was getting very crowded and they need the space. In the end I decided to leave it with the super on and see how we get on.

masterBK said:

A beekeeping friend and I have treated 50 colonies each year for the past two years and we have not lost a single queen using MAQS. The only thing we noticed was that the queen stopped laying for between 2 and 7 days. Not sure what all the worry and fuss is about. The one thing that worries me is that it is a more expensive treatment per hive than apiguard although there is a slight saving as it requires less visits to the out apiaries.

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Treated a few hives the season before last and didn't lose any queens but they did go off lay for a week or so. Must admit I now vapourise oxalic as it 'appears' to be just as effective on the mite without causing as much disruption to the bees. I made three vaporisers for 30 quid so no waiting between hives. My tub of maqs is in the freezer for emergencies

Well looked in today and of 5 hives treated all still have a laying queen (eggs seen) but 2 have started supersedure cells. Some hives have eggs, capped brood and larvae of a range of ages, suggesting that the brood break was only a few days long whilst other only have capped brood and a few eggs.

Deviated from instructions by leaving entrance blocks in (instructions say to have entrance wide open) as lots of wasps around but left OMF open to compensate. All hives had at least 1 super on - I added boxes to those without to give the bees room to escape the fumes.

Hachi said:

Anyone out there going to use a sublimator soon? If so can I tag along to help out and learn?

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Hi Hachi,
where in Wilts are you?
PM me..

Erichalfbee said:

You do have to have power, of sorts. Most use batteries and the number of colonies you can do at a time must be limited this way but I have car access right to the hives so use the car battery with the engine on.
Hivemaker does it I think but he has lots of hives and an industrial vaporiser that delivers oxalic under pressure from the top which is supposed to be more effective.....ask him

Click to expand...

For out-apriaries where you can't get the car right next to the hives, rather than carry a full size car battery, you could use a motorcycle or house alarm 12v battery - half the size and weight so much easier to carry, but still powerful enough to give a few applications.

another method that may work could be to use a small camping stove and a kettle with a tube feeding the vapour into the hive. (adapt an old smoker?)

wessexmario said:

another method that may work could be to use a small camping stove and a kettle with a tube feeding the vapour into the hive. (adapt an old smoker?)

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No no no ... just plain dangerous ... are you suggesting brewing up unmeasured quantities of OA and trying to feed the vapour into the hive. Have you never had a whiff of OA vapour ? ... Even the smallest bit into your lungs is going to render a coughing fit like you have never experienced ... it's not nice stuff.

There are some applicators (real redneck stuff) that use gas blow torches to heat the crystals - you can find them on Youtube - but even these have the crystals contained in a sealed cartridge and use a measured quantity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALHz4B1vqKo

If you fancy a walk on the wild side.

pargyle said:

No no no ... just plain dangerous ... are you suggesting brewing up unmeasured quantities of OA and trying to feed the vapour into the hive. Have you never had a whiff of OA vapour ? ... Even the smallest bit into your lungs is going to render a coughing fit like you have never experienced ... it's not nice stuff.

There are some applicators (real redneck stuff) that use gas blow torches to heat the crystals - you can find them on Youtube - but even these have the crystals contained in a sealed cartridge and use a measured quantity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALHz4B1vqKo

If you fancy a walk on the wild side.

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as always, the concise version never gets the message across - it was an "idea in progress" suggestion, not a "solution".

Of course I'd measure the dose, and have a sealed container feeding the hive, a bit more engineering would go into a usable tool than just using an off the shelf camping kettle (maybe "kettle" is the wrong word to use but I thought it described the form/function concisely).
But my mistake - I was presuming that people will think about what they're doing, rather than just "copy stuff off the internet"

and yes, I've had a remote taste of OA vapour

wessexmario said:

as always, the concise version never gets the message across - it was an idea in progress" suggestion, not a "solution".

Of course I'd measure the dose, and have a sealed container feeding the hive, a bit more engineering would go into a usable tool than just using an off the shelf camping kettle (maybe "kettle" is the wrong word to use but I thought it described the form/function concisely).
But my mistake - I was presuming that people will think about what they're doing, rather than just "copy stuff off the internet"

and yes, I've had a remote taste of OA vapour

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Yes, on hindsight ... I thought it might be a bit 'off the cuff' ... not your usual measured post - I was a little concerned that some of the more impetuous beeks may already be designing their own funeral though !!

pargyle said:

Yes, on hindsight ... I thought it might be a bit 'off the cuff' ... not your usual measured post - I was a little concerned that some of the more impetuous beeks may already be designing their own funeral though !!

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agreed.
but sometimes I think the human race might evolve better if we allowed Darwin's Theory to work in practice!

GarysBees said:

Well I put in two MAQS into my hive yesterday. I had to do it around 8pm, which they weren't too pleased about. I have a super on there but the queen hasn't ventured up there yet. I wasn't sure if I should keep it on or not. On one hand I thought that if I took it off then it might decrease the chances of the queen walking over the strips. On the other the brood box was getting very crowded and they need the space. In the end I decided to leave it with the super on and see how we get on.

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You MUST leave the super on. It gives the bees somewhere to escape the fumes.

OMF closed, entrance open.....and as there are wasps about it's another reason to not be using MAQS at this time of year

wessexmario said:

agreed.
but sometimes I think the human race might evolve better if we allowed Darwin's Theory to work in practice!

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I'm definitely with you on that ... trouble is, in my past experience, the ones who die are usually the onlookers of the evolutionists ... killed by the side effects of experimentation !!

I've decided to go with Apiguard, & get a sublimator for oxalic in the Winter.
It really is a complicated subject

Millet said:

MAQS .. ? enlighten me please i try to spell thing's and abbreviations word for word in my normal life and i won't change now..

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You will find the product marketed under the MAQS label.

For example:
http://www.thorne.co.uk/health-and-feeding/maqs
http://www.mannlake.co.uk/beekeeping-supplies/product/DC-630.html
http://www.bees-online.co.uk/view.asp?ID=1325
http://www.paynesbeefarm.co.uk/varroa-control/maqs-mite-away-quick-strips-bucket-10-hives/
They've even bought up http://www.maqs.co.uk

You really should be prepared to get used to that acronym ...