ApiTonin – a product before its time
Vita is proud to announce the launch of a brand new product for beekeepers.
Bees bamboozled by the time change.
The result of rigorous research and development, ApiTonin is a plastic strip impregnated with specially formulated melatonin to help your bees cope with the changing of the clocks in spring and autumn.
Where can I buy ApiTonin?
You can find ApiTonin at your local supplier.
Find your country’s distributor here.
What is ApiTonin?
Are your bees bad tempered? Lethargic? Constantly raiding their mini-bar of honey stocks? They could be suffering from seasonal adjustment disorder (more commonly known as jet-lag).
It is well known that bees are extremely sensitive to the position of the sun. It tells them when to forage and when to return to the hive. More than that, the sun is a primary navigation aid to the bee.
What beekeepers have known for decades, but only now have a solution for, is the torment that bees experience when humans artificially changes the clock twice a year. That means the sun sets later following the spring change and rises earlier after the autumn change throwing the bees’ biological clock into complete disarray..
When to use the ApiTonin Melatonin Strip
ApiTonin can be used to help bees adjust to the clock changes in spring and autumn. ApiTonin is also ideal to help bees acclimatise to a new location when moved east or west, with the resultant slight change in time of sunrise and sunset (ie to offset the effects of ‘jetlag’).
Please see below for usage instructions. ApiTonin strips should be applied each day from the time of re-location or when the clocks are changed for a period of 21 days. After this time, the bees will be fully acclimated to their new routine.
How to use the ApiTonin Melatonin Strip
ApiTonin is very quick, simple and safe to use. If you’ve ever used the world-leading Varroa control product Apistan from Vita (Europe) Ltd, you know how to use ApiTonin: simply apply two strips to the brood chamber and leave for the specified period of time..
However there is a slight added complication with ApiTomnin — for maximum efficacy, ApiTonin strips must be applied exactly 1 hour and 24 minutes before sunset. Fortunately through Vita’s extensive product development, we have been able to open the application window to two minutes either side of the optimum. Meaning that: if sunset is now at 19:33, ApiTonin can be applied to the hive at any time between 18:07 and 18:11.
The strips should be removed from the hive any time between sunrise and 2 hours 09 minutes following sunrise (ie if sunrise is at 06:33, the strips must be removed from the hive before 08:42.
ApiTonin strips can be reused for a period of 10 consecutive weeks and then should be discarded with normal household waste.
ApiTonin – a silver bullet
Scientific studies around Europe have shown that ApiTonin is extremely efficient and produces no negative side effects in bees. ApiTonin does leave some residues in honey so Vita is working with producers to market a new “Jet lag busting” line of honeys. ApiTonin is harmless to beekeepers, leaves no residues in wax and can be used at any time of year.
ApiTonin – Launch Date
ApiTonin will be available globally before noon today, 1st April 2014.