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 | Equal weights OA dihydrate and glycerin, heated to under 160 °F, soaked into sponges or shop towels | No independently published figure — Oliver's own testing behind VarroxSan's later development | Cheap bulk materials, but requires careful heating and handling | Bees gradually remove/consume the carrier over about 2 months | 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, "I in no way encourage the unregistered application of any pesticide — please wait until this method is approved by the EPA and your State before using it in your own hives" (scientificbeekeeping.com/extended-release-oxalic-acid-progress-report-2019/, the research VarroxSan was later developed from). Included for informational interest only, not as a recommendation.
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