Wormwood against varroa — the whole recipe, no boiling (KAS-81)

KAS-81 is wormwood and pine buds. The varroa mite finds its way around the hive by smell, and the job of KAS is to throw it off that scent, so it goes into the comb less often. 📋 THE RECIPE Wormwood at the four-to-five-leaf stage — 50 g Wormwood in flower — 900 g Pine buds — 50 g Water — 10 l The classic recipe says boil it for two hours. We don't boil it: we pour boiling water over it in an airtight container and wrap the container in a sheepskin coat, so the heat holds longer. One batch gives eight to eight and a half litres. 💧 HOW WE GIVE IT 30 g of KAS per litre of syrup. A litre of syrup per colony, three times, two or three days apart. We start around the fifteenth of August. 💡 A TIP THAT ISN'T IN THE VIDEO Finished KAS keeps much longer if you add sugar: one kilo of sugar to 500 g of KAS. That extends the shelf life by roughly six months. ⏱ Chapters 00:00 — What KAS-81 is and what it's for 00:21 — Why wormwood: the mite navigates by smell 00:37 — Which wormwood you need and when to gather it 01:15 — How much raw material for fifty hives 01:45 — Where to get it 02:08 — Chopping and sorting 03:01 — Why we don't boil it for two hours 03:41 — The respirator: without it your throat is bitter for two days 04:43 — Packing it in layers: what goes at the bottom, what on top 05:51 — Pouring in ten litres of boiling water 06:22 — Lid and coat — why the heat has to hold 07:11 — Straining it through a nylon headscarf 07:52 — How much you get, and how to store it 08:29 — How to tell that KAS has gone off 08:42 — The schedule: three times, 30 g per litre 09:13 — Why we don't use strips 09:33 — Summing up ⚠️ Work in a respirator. Wormwood dust leaves your throat bitter for two days — we found that out the hard way. 👉 And what do you treat with? Write in the comments. 🔔 Subscribe — we break the stereotypes. 👍 A like helps the video reach other beekeepers. ⚠️ Everything shown here is our own practice, not a recommendation. The classic KAS-81 recipe is prepared differently. Voice-over in this video is AI-generated. The content, footage and expertise are the author's own. #beekeeping #apiary #bees #beekeeper #kas81 #varroa #varroamite #wormwood