More about choosing a vaporizer
Cordless replaced corded, and we would know
We used to build corded vaporizers ourselves. Before the InstantVap, Lorob Bees made the 120V Original and the front-entrance Macro, and we still stock parts for them for the people running ours. We stopped making them because the battery units are simply better at the job.
A corded vaporizer tethers you. There is a 12V battery to carry down the row, leads to drag and untangle, a pan to heat up and then cool down before you move on, and a working radius set by the length of your wire. None of that is a hardship on four hives in the back garden. On forty, it is your whole afternoon.
A cordless unit runs on a power-tool pack you probably already own, delivers a 2 g dose in 10 to 30 seconds depending on the model (20 to 90 seconds at 4 g), and you simply walk to the next hive. That is the entire reason the category moved. If you are weighing a cheap corded unit against a cordless one, weigh it in hives per hour rather than dollars.
Two things left to decide
Entrance or top. These are entrance vaporizers: the nozzle goes in at the front, the hive stays closed, the bees stay calm and you stay out of the vapor. Top-bar vaporizers mean cracking the lid on every treatment.
How fast, and how many hives. Time per treatment decides whether a yard takes a morning or an afternoon. Most beekeepers run a 4 g dose on a full-size colony. At 4 g, the Lite takes about a minute and a half per hive, the Compact and Original about 45 seconds, and the Turbo about 20 seconds. Across 40 hives that is roughly an hour on the Lite, half an hour on the Compact or Original, and under fifteen minutes on the Turbo — before walking time.
The four models compared
| Model | Price | 2 g dose | 4 g dose | Battery | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $349 | 25–30 seconds | About 1 min 30 s | 3 Ah or larger | A backyard apiary, up to about 20 hives. The lightest and least expensive way in. |
| Compact | $445 | About 25 seconds | About 45 seconds | 5 Ah or larger | 20–60 hives. Same heating power as the Original in a smaller, better-balanced body, with spare plunger storage in the handle. |
| Original | $495 | About 25 seconds | About 45 seconds | 5 Ah or larger | The proven full-size workhorse, with the deepest accessory catalog. |
| Turbo | $550 | About 10 seconds | About 20 seconds | 5 Ah or larger | Sideliners and commercial yards. Cycles fastest between hives, with a screen that shows battery voltage and a treatment counter. |
All four take an infinitely adjustable 1–4 g dose, carry a two-year warranty serviced in the USA, and are built for one battery socket that you choose when you order. Cycle times are for a warmed-up unit; add 50–60 seconds for the first heat-up from cold.
Will it run on the batteries you already own?
Almost certainly. Every InstantVap is built for one battery socket and you choose it when you order: DeWalt 20V, Milwaukee M18, Makita 18V LXT, Ridgid 18V, Bosch 18V or Metabo HPT 18V. No proprietary battery, no charger to buy, no cord to drag down the row. The Lite is happy on a 3 Ah pack, the size that comes with most drill kits; the Compact, Original and Turbo want 5 Ah or larger. On Ryobi or Craftsman? We make an adapter for Ryobi and one for Craftsman V20 that run a DeWalt-socket Lite, Compact or Original — we don't recommend either on the Turbo, which pulls more current than an adapter is happy with.
Use the Battery platform filter at the top of the product list to see only the units that take your batteries.
What else you need
A vaporizer on its own isn't a treatment. You also want EPA-registered EZ-OX oxalic acid and a full-face respirator — oxalic acid vapor is an irritant and a dust mask is not enough.
New to vaporizing? Start with how much oxalic acid per hive, then how to use a vaporizer safely. If you're weighing us against the alternatives, we wrote an honest InstantVap vs ProVap vs Varrox Eddy comparison.
Parts and accessories by model
Plungers, nozzles, cleaning caps, cases, o-rings and adapters, grouped so you only see what fits your gun: Lite · Compact · Original · Turbo.
InstantVap vaporizers are designed and built by InstantVap (instantvap.eu) in Hungary. Lorob Bees is the US seller and the US service center for every model.
