Monday 16 September 2019

A WARNING!!! Varrox Vaporiser



Varrox vaporiser
Hive sealed during treatment
It’s time to treat for varroa after taking off the honey harvest.

I have used oxalic acid based products with a Varrox Vaporiser for five years and must have done hundreds of treatments. One day last week I’d completed about a half dozen hives and decided to take a break after disconnecting the battery. This nucleus colony housed a newly mated queen, I’d just seen her for the first time and there were lots of sealed worker brood cells, happy days!

When I came back I found smoke bellowing from the nuc, I hadn’t disconnected the battery after all!
Luckily there were no actual flames but after letting things cool down for a while and taking a peak inside, there were lots of apparently dead bees on the floor and frames.

Having written off this colony, I was pleasantly surprised five days later to find three frames with eggs and lots of bees. The queen was obviously still present and laying. I didn’t see the queen but who could blame her for hiding from me after our previous encounter?

Were the bees dead or were they overcome with CO2 ? Who knows? I’m just grateful that they survived and I learned a lesson, another one!

Take care when using a vaporiser, in addition to the toxic nature of these products there is a substantial fire risk!