I just purchased Johno's Easy Vap from Doug Anderson http://www.honeyandthehiveva.com/.
Honey and the Hive is a mobile beekeeping supply company in the greater Richmond, VA area. We are a distributor of quality beekeeping supplies and custom woodenware, such as quilt boxes, candy boards, long langs, top bar hives and more.
We try to bring the trailer to as many local club meetings as possible to make it convenient for you to get your beekeeping supplies. Check out our schedule to see where we will be next. If you can't make one of these meetings, or need something sooner, just let us know.
I have read rave reviews all over the internet about his product. I understand that he makes them when he can and on a limited basis. When I read that Doug had them I jumped on it.
Every honey bee colony in the continental United States and Canada either has Varroa mites today or will have them within several months. Varroa mite infestation represents one of the greatest threats to honey bee health, honey production, and pollination services. When honey bee colonies are untreated or treated ineffectively, colonies can fail and beekeepers can incur major economic losses, and, ultimately, agricultural food production may be impacted. In addition, colonies with Varroa are a source of mites that can spread to other colonies, even in other apiaries, through drifting, robbing, and absconding activity of bees. https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroa/
Varroa is deadly to bees. You must treat you bees or they will die. There are several methods to treat for mites. Johnno's Easy Vap uses Oxalic Acid - common wood bleach to treat. Oxalic Acid in vapor form is harmful to humans, but safe for bees.
The challenge as you increase your hives is time and cost. I currently have 27 hives. If I spend 30 minutes in each hive, that is 13 1/2 hours just to treat. There isn't that much daylight during the day. The other is cost. $15 per hive is $405. However when it come to mites the biggest concern is effectiveness. According to numerous studies, it’s 90-99% effective at killing the mites with minimal damage to the bees and brood.
They make wands that you can hook up to a car battery. You have to move the battery from hive to hive. Hooking it up and unhooking it up as you go. It becomes a time thing.
This is where Johno's Easy Vap comes in.
Above is a video that I made when I first tried the vaporizer. I will follow up with the results.
Update4-2023 Time got away and I didn't do another mite count.