Formic acid can be applied in the form of a flash treatment1 or a long-term treatment2. Depending on the application method used, the air in the hive will have a high concentration of formic acid for several hours, or a lower concentration over several days.
Formic acid not only destroys varroa mites on the adult bees, but also those developing in the sealed brood cells. Despite this, formic acid alone is often not enough to sufficiently reduce the numbers of this parasite. A more comprehensive approach to control must therefore be implemented.
Various effective devices3 for long-term formic acid treatments are currently available on the market. Our research centre has developed the FAM dispenser4. This dispenser is produced under licence and marketed by Andermatt Biovet AG, Strahlermatten 6, 6146 Grossdietwil, Switzerland.
Attention! Since 2013, only formic acid approved by Swissmedic can be used to fill formic acid dispensers.
Combination of formic acid short term treatment and apicultural measures (PDF, 64 kB, 20.01.2017)
A. Imdorf, J.D. Charrière (1999)
The "FAM Liebefeld" Formic Acid Dispenser for Varroa Control (PDF, 43 kB, 08.10.2018)
J.D. Charrière, A. Imdorf, P. Fluri (1998)
