The Bee Bench › Treatment Picker
Half of choosing a mite treatment is just ruling out the ones today's conditions won't let you use. Set the three things that matter and see what's left.
| Treatment | Legal for use | Active | Class | How it goes in | Efficacy | Cost/hive | Duration | Supers | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apiguard | US only | Thymol | Essential oil | Gel tray sits on the brood frames | 74–95% | $3.30–$6.80 | 28 days (two 14-day doses) | No — supers off | Needs warmth, roughly 60–105 °F, to vaporize properly |
| Api Life Var | US & Canada | Thymol, eucalyptus, menthol | Essential oil | Tablets on the corners of the brood nest | 70–90% | $4.48–$7.12 | 21–30 days (3 doses, 7–10 days apart) | No — supers off | Needs warmth, roughly 60–105 °F |
| Formic Pro / MAQS | US & Canada | Formic acid | Organic acid | Pads laid on the brood nest | 61–98% | $4.40–$7.25 | 7, 14 or 20 days by product | Yes — can stay on | 50–85 °F. Too hot kills brood and sometimes the queen |
| Oxalic acid | US & Canada | Oxalic acid dihydrate | Organic acid | Dribbled on the bees, or vaporized | 82–99% broodless, far less with brood | $0.25–$0.37 | Single application | Permitted — tolerance exempt | Works cool. Needs a broodless colony to shine |
| VarroxSan | US & Canada | Oxalic acid, extended release | Organic acid | Fibre strips over the top bars | 92–98% (mfr-recorded avg. 96%) | ~$2.50–$4.00 | 42–56 days | Check your label | Wide range. The way to use oxalic acid when there IS brood |
| HopGuard 3 | US & Canada | Hop beta acids | Organic acid | Strips in the brood nest | 75–95% (HBHC 9th ed.) | $3.33–$3.80 | ~2 weeks per application, up to 4x/year, never past 30 days | Yes — but only harvest honey/wax from supers, not the brood chamber | 55–100 °F |
| Apivar | US & Canada | Amitraz | Synthetic | Strips in the brood nest | About 95% | $5.00–$6.90 | 42–56 days (Apivar 2.0: 6–10 weeks) | No — off 14 days before supering | Wide range |
| Amiflex | US & Canada | Amitraz | Synthetic | Premixed gel on wooden strips, dosing gun | 56% single dose with brood (81–83% for two doses); 98–100% broodless | Check current pricing | 7 days (1 dose) or 21 days (2 doses) | No — remove gel before supering | No restriction, but avoid dead-of-winter application |
| Thymovar (CAN) | Canada only — NOT legal in the US | Thymol | Essential oil | Impregnated strip | 74–95% | Check current pricing | 6–8 weeks (2 doses, 3–4 wks apart) | No — supers off | 60–85 °F |
| Api-Bioxal RTU | US only | Oxalic acid, ready-mixed | Organic acid | Pre-mixed liquid, no math or mixing | 70–99%, varies with repeats/brood | Check current pricing | 10 min; repeatable up to 4x, 7–10 days apart | Yes — can be used with supers on | No restriction — any temp, any colony size |
| MBG2X5G | US only | L-glutamic acid | Organic acid | Strip clipped between top bars | Not yet published — new to market in 2025 | Check current pricing | ~42 days per strip, year-round use | Yes — no restriction noted | No restriction |
| Norroa | US only — not yet in Canada | Vadescana (RNAi) | Genetic | Liquid pouch bees feed from | Prevents mite reproduction; up to 18 weeks with open brood present and mites under 3% | Mann Lake exclusive — check pricing | Up to 18 weeks per application | No — stays in brood chamber | No restriction |
| Formic Acid 65% (CAN) | Canada only — NOT legal in the US | Formic acid 65% | Organic acid | Liquid formic acid on absorbent pads (dri-loc or MiteGone) | 60–93% | Check current pricing | 20–30 days depending on method | No — remove 2 weeks before adding supers | 50–86 °F |
| DIY Formic Acid Pads ("meat pads") | Not EPA/PMRA-registered anywhere — an unapproved method, not a legal product | Formic acid, 65%, homemade | DIY — NOT registered | Butcher absorbent meat-tray pads (e.g. Dri-Loc 50) hand-soaked in 65% formic acid | No independently published figure — Randy Oliver describes results as inconsistent | Cheap materials, but a lot of labor and yard trips for repeat dosing | 6 applications, 4 days apart (published Ontario protocol) | No — do not use with supers on | Roughly 50–86 °F, similar to other formic products |
| DIY OA/Glycerin Sponges ("Swedish sponges") | Not EPA/PMRA-registered — the experimental method VarroxSan was later developed from | Oxalic acid dihydrate + vegetable glycerin, homemade | DIY — NOT registered | 1:1 by weight, heated to under 160 °F and soaked into cellulose sponges — 50 g oxalic + 50 g glycerin per double-deep hive, two pads laid between the brood chambers for 60–75 days. Full recipe on the oxalic acid page | No independently published figure — Oliver's own testing behind VarroxSan's later development | Cheap bulk materials, but requires careful heating and handling | 60–75 days — the bees chew the pads out as they go | No — do not use with supers on | No stated restriction |
Apistan and CheckMite+ are not recommended: they persist in wax for years and mites are widely resistant to both. Rotate between chemical families, pull strips on time, and always re-test two to three weeks after a treatment ends to confirm it actually worked. Resistance to amitraz (Apivar) is now showing up too. Efficacy figures follow the Honey Bee Health Coalition, Tools for Varroa Management, 9th edition (June 2026). MAQS has been folded into the Formic Pro row above — the 9th edition dropped it from its product table, and Formic Pro has effectively superseded it. The two DIY rows are documented by researcher Randy Oliver, who is explicit that neither is a legal treatment path: on the meat pads, "it is currently illegal" (scientificbeekeeping.com/the-learning-curve-part-3-the-natural-miticides/); on the OA/glycerin sponges, Oliver's current write-up (scientificbeekeeping.com, "Extended-release oxalic acid for varroa management," updated May 2026) reports that the EPA has left “own use” of oxalic acid to each State Lead Agency — so in Pennsylvania it is the Department of Agriculture's call, and Oliver himself works under a Pesticide Research Authorization. You cannot make these for anyone else or sell them. VarroxSan is the registered product built on the same research. Included for informational interest only, not as a recommendation.
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