Hi Bruce, Tom Nolan here from NOD Apiary Products here. First, thanks for the video and for trying our Formic Pro on your Apimaye hive. The white eco-paper wrap should stay on. This white eco-paper wrap works as a wick to control the formic acid vapour release. Without controlled release, the formic acid vapour releases much faster and can be hard on the colony. The good news is you applied the product below the upper temperature limit and you had plenty of ventilation by removing the entrance reducer, which helped minimize any potential damage to the colony. I suspect you would have had less bearding and higher efficacy had the eco-paper been left on. Let's have another phone chat or do another video for your subscribers to go over the application process.

I haven’t started yet,but I have been filling my brain with knowledge from you and a couple others and a family operation in Lake Wales,Florida. And believe I will start this year and give it a go. So keep doing your great work so I can keep learning. I thank you very much.

I've used Formic pros last year, loved them. I've heard about the queen issues so I was very particular when I applied. Forecast under 85 for first few days, etc. Treated 10 hives, no issues.

I'm glad you tested and shared your experience using Formic Pro with us Bruce, interesting to see someone testing it and not just repeating all the negative talk about this product.

That's a great test, and I think you are right about how bees react when they are sick or infested with mites.

Hey Bruce! I’ve been wanting to use formic pro but have been hesitant because I worry about my queens. Thanks so much for this video. I feel much better about trying it now! Keep ‘‘em coming!

Thanks for the info I really liked the interview with Tom I think that cleared up some rumors or bad experience’s that some have had for whatever reasons temps EXTRA keep up the good work

You need to keep the paper wraps on each pad. It helps regulate the release of the formic over time. Next time remove the pads from the foil wrapper and place directly onto the frames.

Yes! What Tom Nolan said. Please post pic of formic pros box hazard statement for others to see. This product should NOT!! Be inhaled. Thank you.

You are supposed to leave the paper wraps on, as it acts as a wick for the formic vapor...You can also put a honey super on so the bees have more room and to increase air flow...

Mite count Looks Good, That formic surely Helped it. Also Congrats on the 20k, Good stuff Bruce

Hi Bruce, others are right NOD says to leave the paper on. I do hope you get them mites though. I've used Formic Pro for a few years now, I've had no issues that I could notice, and if any brood was slowed down as you say not a bad thing either. Good luck with that hive.

Good to see great outcome with the Formic pro!

Bruce I use Formic pro all the time you aren’t supposed to remove the outer paper from the treatment before putting it on the colonies. I believe it states that in the directions. It there to slow the initial gas off

Even in Saskatchewan, Canada I have been worried about using Formic Pro because of it’s reputation for killing queens. You have done a good interview. We are not able to use Apiguard in Canada so definitely need other tools to treat mites. Good videos.👍

After watching your video with NOD, I will be doing the two strip method, I didn’t realize single strip treatment didn’t kill mites under caps! Thanks for the videos!

I have been using Formic pro for 4 years and really like the results. Great video Bruce.

We use formic pro some of the time and have had good results. Usually use the one pad and then replace with another at 14 days. Have been pleased with outcomes.

I've had great success with Formic Pro. A program many of us and the SF Bay area adopted was: hit them with the formic then OA shop towels or Swedish dish towels when you remove the formic pads. Also many of did a two step formic treatment: one pad for ten days, then add the second for another 10 days, then the OA towels.

It's hard on my bees in late summer but even harder on mites and seems to really help get em through the winters

That looked pretty good with impressive results. I should start using more variety in my treatments to avoid breeding resistant mites.

Good job Bruce. Makes me want to try it. I think the bees temperament is affected by the mites too, as well as small hive beatles.

I used that in the fall but have learned to put wax paper under the strip to prevent the solution from dropping on the queen and brood.

I used formic last season . Our mite count in canada was 0 . I had decided to use formic just in case there were mites . We administered it in the afternoon and by the next day i had 2 queens dead outside and a pile of dead bees. Seeing how many were dying i quickly removed the formic . It was oct and it was too late to purchase any queens. My hives are doing fine but i do not know if they were able to requeen themselves. I will look for eggs on our next inspection when our temperatures are warm . I have no faith in the product . Glad your experience was better. Mr Nolan was professional on the telephone but could not help. Im stuck with a box of Formic pro that i do not want to use . For now i will stick with OA .

Awesome! Your question about pissy bees & mites...I'd agree with you. I was given a hive which was really angry. I took them out to the sticks and put them in my equipment. When transferring them...I couldn't believe how many small hive beetles I saw. One frame, particularly bad was with solid capped brood & open brood. I even left it out when putting them back together...then I thought, heck, they're doing fine even with this infestation (so I put that frame back in). Next time I went into that hive the small hive beetles were GONE. They were also perfectly civil! I totally believe bees get frantic/antsy/desperate when being attacked. They act just like when getting robbed. They sting anything near by! The reason that guy had such high small hive beetles is because he had a coy pond. The ground was absolutely perfect breeding ground for small hive beetles.

Hey, you hit 20k subs. Great job Bruce.

I live in the foothills of n.c . I treated mine last Thursday with FORMIC pro. The first two days , one of my hives had hundreds of dead bees in front of ground in my strongest hive. The other hive had a few dead bees in fro t of it. The strong hive was bring out dead larvae’s d dead bees. I was conceived had killed my bees but they seem to be working now and going back to business as usual. I havnt opened the hives because of the directions says to wait to after treatment. We will see if the queens survived.

I love seeing the Brood patterns after formic. They bounce back so hard, you will have sheets of brood afterwards. It's absolutely amazing imo.

See the exact same behaviour with Apiguard, even at half dose, when it's first applied. Bearding like crazy for the first day or two, they soon settle down and get back to business. I'll be using Formic this year too.

If you don't know, you can make your own formic pads, which are much cheaper than Formic Pro. I got a gallon of 65% Formic Acid off ebay, and also got some 4x7 "Safepro Uz40 meat pads" they use when packaging up meat. Each pad will gulp up about 3 Tbsp. of acid, then you stick them on the bees like you did. You also should wear gloves and a respirator when handling these. Note: This might not exactly be legal in the USA.

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If you do it in the fall when the queen slows down, it's fine. That's what I do. And as I understand it, it only really shuts her down and is the worst the first three days. But I am in Texas, so that helps.

Great Job Bruce!! How often would you repeat this TX?? Congrats on 20k!!

Don’t take it out of paper wrapper. That controls the release of the acid. It will be to strong if you take paper wrapper off of the treatment

im sure the vented lids help,i left half the foil on for extended release

At those mite levels I would almost call that hive a fail here up north, not a chance it would survive my winter in Wisconsin. I still have two feet of snow and maple is a long way off.

Putting those patties on cleared the top of the box better than the smoke! Lol

Track that count 10 days later from that last test , see if the counts increase again. It would be interesting to see if the mites under the cappings are dead

Those mites got nuked with that high powered formic without the rap, lol. I see no other option when you find colonies with that many mites. Formic definitely works. Good luck with your bees.

Classic KZfaq knowledge sharing here 😂 if I were to share my knowledge online, I probably will make sure I read and follow the instructions very carefully.

Going forward absolutely do not remove the paper, especially in Alabama where it gets so hot.

Hi Bruce, you may consider remoistening those pads and place them back on for a while? Just a thought...???

I get much better results with the one pad at a time option. Easier on the bees and harder on the mites.

Still had to OA treat after because of all the bees hanging outside the hive during treatment.

This is my 4th yr using Formic Pro.I have no proplems so far.

did you pull the tray,to see what dropped

how was your temps

I am surprised that you still washed 8 mites. It seems none of the treatments kills 95% anymore. OA sponges would be my goto now if I were in your shoes but it still isn't registered as a legal treatment yet. Maybe some OAV two or three more time in the next two week would help some. You could requeen with a VSH queen from Cory.

They’re all hopped up on that might poison.

Did you read the directions?

Leave the paper wraps on lol

I think bees that beard out are thé wounded ones

I agree with other people. Leave the paper on.

Maybe read the instructions before making a video on how to use it?