Controlling Varroa

Which ecological product can be used to control Varroa?

The national beekeeping plan (Plan Nacional Apícola) states that a minimum of once a year treatment has to be given against Varroa. For this treatment I use two substances in Ecological Agriculture, Thymol and Formic Acid.I use this treatment twice a year in spring and in autumn.
In the springtime, of the ecological acaricides (pesticides) authorized by the Spanish medicine agency (Agencia Española de Medicamento)  the one that has given me the best results has been Maqs Ácido Fórmica in strips. I use it because it is easy to apply, the short time that it is used in the beehives and its  efficiency against Varroa. You must be precise in its use and as a piece of advice I would  like to point out that in the beehives you must make sure that the beehives are well ventilated. Here you can see manufacturer's technical manual.

In autumn I use Apilife Var.  Although it is not yet registered  with the Spanish agency (Agencia Española) it is with the European one and because of the latter it can be used. In my opinion it is the most effective acaricide of those that use Thymol amongst its principal components. This acaricide is in tablet form and evaporates and is composed of four main ingredients permitted by ecological agriculture (Apicultura Ecológica) thymol,  eucalyptus oil, menthol and camphor. In this case I would also advise you that the beehives should be well ventilated and I stress that you have to do it on the brood frames as their vapors are heavier than air and will tend to go downwards.
Here is a video about its use. In it, on the left, you can see the way I distribute the product in the beehive. With the scissors I divide the tablet into 4 pieces  and on Internet you can find other ways of doing it. It is an all year round struggle against this mite and one of the many things I do is use combustible eucalyptus wood in the "smokehouse", combined with rosemary branches. I endeavour to plant rosemary, mint, oregano and rue near the beehives.
I want to finish off reminding you that you have to follow the instructions indicated by the manufacturer or failing this as indicated by a vet.

Ubicación: Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain