Ant for bees: instructions for using acid, composition and dosage

Beekeepers are popular with drugs that help not only fight bee diseases, but also help disinfect hives. "Ant" - a medicine for bees that destroys parasitic mites and wax moths. Advantages of the drug: ease and convenience of use, environmental safety, high efficiency in the fight against diseases.

Composition and release form of "Ants"

The drug is available as a colorless gel with a peculiar odor. The active substance is formic acid at a concentration of 85%, which exhibits medicinal qualities in the fight against various diseases of bees and slows down the processes of decay and decay.

The gel is sold in non-woven bags. Package size - 0.4x0.7 cm, weight - 30 g. Packages in the amount of 4 pieces are packed in a polymer jar.

What is it used for?

The drug is used to treat bees from varroatosis and acarapidosis. Ticks are the source of disease:

• parasite Varroa destructor feeds on the blood of honey bees, pupae, larvae. 5-6 mites can parasitize on one bee. A colony infected with mites produces practically no honey, the life span of the bees is reduced, since individuals are born underdeveloped, defective;
• The microscopic mite Akaraapiswoodi (about 0.15 mm in size) parasitizes the trachea of adult bees. Violation of the air flow in the respiratory system helps to reduce gas exchange, negative changes occur in the nervous system.

For the treatment and prevention of diseases, you can isolate the apiary for a while, but it is more expedient to use the special drug "Ant".

Instructions for use for bees

For effective treatment of bees, it is important to follow the instructions for use of the drug:

• all hives are processed (in spring, after the first inspection, or in summer-autumn, after honey is pumped out);
• the jar of medicine is opened, and the packages are laid out on the hives (under the canvas or on the upper bars of the honeycomb frames) at the rate of 1-2 sachets for 10-12 frames;
• bags are removed and disposed of after the gel has evaporated. Beehives are processed at temperatures from +10 °С to +25 °С.

For medicinal purposes, the drug is used twice a season to protect against varroatosis and three times in the fight against acarapidosis.

Seven days is the recommended interval between treatments.

Safety precautions

The toxicity of formic acid depends on the concentration. When using the drug, it must be taken into account that 10% acid causes an irritant effect, and a more concentrated acid exhibits a corrosive effect. Therefore, when working, observe safety precautions:

• work is carried out in individual protective equipment (respirator, goggles, overalls, rubber gloves);
• handle hives preferably in dry calm weather;
• during work it is forbidden to drink, smoke, take off protective equipment.

Acid vapors strongly irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract. When exposed to the skin formic acid (concentrations above 30%), a chemical burn occurs with the formation of off-white scabs.First aid in case of injury - washing the burned area of the skin with clean water.

Contraindications and side effects

The drug is quite toxic, so it is important to consider contraindications and the likelihood of side effects:

• it is not recommended to process bee colonies less than 5 streets;
• an overdose can cause insects to be weeded out of the hives or even death of the queen and bees;
• Treatment should not be done in wet weather as the hives will not be well ventilated.

Side effects observed in case of overdose: bees form a tight ball hanging outside the hive, insects show excessive anxiety.

Storage and shelf life

Packages with acid are stored in tightly closed original packaging, as the drug evaporates quickly. The product freezes at temperatures below 8.4 °C. Since formic acid is quite toxic, the product is stored in a special room, protected from light. The medicine is kept in a place inaccessible to children and animals, separately from food, animal feed. The shelf life of the drug in the form of a gel is 2 years.

Are there any analogues?

Various drugs are used to kill tick parasites. Several effective analogues are popular. In Moscow, it is not difficult to buy Varastop, Varatom, Apiflum, Varrosan, Apiatraz, Apivaro, Flukontakt.

Formic acid is a popular drug in the treatment of bee diseases. If the instructions are followed, the use of the drug is safe for insects and does not cause consequences.

Recommended