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Author Topic: oxalic acid application  (Read 11296 times)

Offline alfred

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oxalic acid application
« on: October 20, 2007, 06:35:56 pm »
  Well I tried it this morning. I went out early before the girls were up and gave it a shot. I haven't seen any noticeable changes this afternoon. I pulled the drop tray and nothing in it yet.

   I will definitly do some things diferent next time. the pipe that I used didn't fit into the hole in the shim board... I should have checked it out before hand, so I had to just hold it up flush. I also wasn't able to properly measure the ammount of acid as my kitchen scale isn't that accurate... I also wish that I had made a device that would allow me to see the vapor going in. hard to tell if anything is happenning. I videod the entire proceedure so maybe when I have an extra day I will upload it, I have dial up so I am slow...

   I think that I am going to do it again next week. I will try to make a plexiglass top for my shim board so that I can see the vapor. I will also either widen the current hole or use a smaller peice of pipe. I think that I will probably widen the hole so that the pipe fits snug and then glue the plexiglass to the shim and it will become my vapor shim tool. Then I will just drill a new hole in the body of the hive for ventillation and winter access. They are always filling the shim space up with comb anyway.

  As a side note. Yesterday I went through the hive top to bottom and cleaned all of the burr comb and excess propolys out of the hive and also took out two frames (10 to 9 frames now) in order to facilitate the even spread of the vapor. I looked close at everything and never saw my queen. Remember this is the queen that I got paint all over about a week ago. No sign... the girls seem happy... and there are eggs so I am assuming that she is there and doing well. Can't belive that I couldn't find her.....

Alfred

Online Michael Bush

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2007, 08:14:28 pm »
Things need to be pretty tight and you need to be downwind.  Of course, if there aren't a lot of mites you won't find a lot of dead ones.  :)
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2007, 08:15:15 pm »
Not that I want to cause you worry, but it's quite possible that the paint injured the queen and she is now gone.
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Offline Kirk-o

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2007, 10:43:08 pm »
I don't understand why someone would poison a hive with that stuff It just contaminates everything Yuck
kirk
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Offline Cindi

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2007, 01:04:46 am »
Alfred, good you are trying to help your bees.  I think you said in a previous post that you have very very high mite counts and you must do something.

Kirk-o he is not poisoning his hive with the stuff nor is it contaminating everything.  He is using Oxalic Acid in vapour form.

It is a good idea to do some studying on how Oxalic Acid (and Formic Acid) work.  Google these, being informed is a good thing.  They are a form of chemical yes, but they are not anything close to the crap that people put in their hives that contaminate the wax, for example, cumouphos or fluvalinate.  These two latter products will contaminate the wax and the residue can be found in the wax.


O.A. and F.A. do not contaminate the wax.

The bees do not build up resistance to O.A. and F.A., such as the pesticides do.  It is a good idea to understand how pesticides work and how the mites build up resistance to them.

I think that the queen is OK, Alfred said that he saw eggs, so we know that she was there at least 3 days prior to his not seeing the queen today.  Have a wonderful and beautiful day on this great earth.  Cindi
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Offline Robo

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2007, 08:12:10 am »
I don't understand why someone would poison a hive with that stuff It just contaminates everything Yuck
kirk

Perhaps to save his bees? :roll:

I don't understand why people insist on bashing people for using oxalic acid.  It is ignorant to believe that just because it is an "acid" that it contaminates everything and is as bad as the commercial varroa treatments.  As Cindi stated, you need to do your research before condemning the use. Perhaps you missed that "diamond" on Michaels site where he said he used it and LIKED it for interim control.  Ever eat sorrel, rhubarb, buckwheat, black pepper, parsley, spinach, chard, or  beets?  All of these have significant concentration of oxalic acid.

Yes,  we would all prefer not to treat with anything,  and a substantial amount of us are working towards that.  However, there comes a time where the only choice is treat or die.  Some prefer to treat.
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2007, 08:30:27 am »
I certainly think the preferred method is to have a stable system that doesn't require the oxalic acid (or anything else).  But if you're not on small cell, don't have resistant queens, you can pretty much be assured that in two years the hive will be dead from Varroa if you don't do something.
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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2007, 08:59:55 am »
Treating for the short term in order to give your bees adequate time to develop a resistance is okay IMO.  But if they can't adapt to some extent after a few years by becoming more hygenic and tolerant then it's time to look for more resistant bees.
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Offline KONASDAD

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2007, 10:09:23 am »
I am more curious as to how this method was done. I beleiev  people use a elbow copper pipe and put a capful od wood bleach and heat w/ one end in hive and the other closed... But would like to know the particulars. OA is yet to be approved in the states as well.
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Offline alfred

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2007, 11:07:43 am »
  Thank you everyone for the support! I am planning to look into the hive tomorrow or the next day when it warms up. It got cold the last few days. I'll look for the queen again and see what else has happened. I am going to make a new device. The one that I used the other day was two 6 inch pieces of steel pipe joined with an elbow. I put the acid in an end cap and put it on one end and put the other against the vent hole in my shim board at the top of the hive.  Then I heated it with a torch until I saw a little vapor escaping around the edge where the pipe was held to the hive. I used a piece of scrap wood with a hole drilled into it to hold it so I would't burn myself with the heat of the torch, and I wore a resperator and rubber gloves for safety with the acid. As I stated in a previous post I think that I want to get the pipe deeper into the hive and I want to be able to see what is happenning.

Thanks again for all of the support. This forum is really a god send for me. every one is so helpfull and I have learned so much from simply searching around past posts.

Blessings,
 Alfred

Offline Cindi

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2007, 11:15:31 am »
Alfred, hope it all works for you, you need to get those mite levels down really fast, you are doing the best you know how, and I take my hat off to you.

One day through hygienic bees and so on, I would love to be not requiring any treatments to keep mite levels at an acceptable level.  But that will take time, studying more, listening more, working more with the bees. 

Of course, that is the game plan I would hope for all beekeepers, to become informed and be the best keeper of bees that we possibly can, with the least use of any form of chemical whatsover.  But, there are times when we must treat if our colonies are in extreme distress because of mites, and I will probably never waiver from this opinion.    Have a wonderful and beautiful day in our life.  Cindi
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Offline Robo

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2007, 11:31:23 am »
I am more curious as to how this method was done. I beleiev  people use a elbow copper pipe and put a capful od wood bleach and heat w/ one end in hive and the other closed... But would like to know the particulars. OA is yet to be approved in the states as well.

I have tried both the "crack pipe" method and the electric vaporizer method.   I prefer the electric version as I don't have to deal with a lit torch around the dried grass and leaves,  can get quite a distance away when vaporizing,  and can easily handle and refill the vaporizer without getting burned.

I have the JB200 12V electric one that I hook to my car battery with a 30ft lead.
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/downloads/beekeeping/JB200ElectricOxalicAcidVaporizer.pdf


Here's a picture of both my vaporizers
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Offline Finsky

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2007, 12:48:25 pm »


1) Loveland Colorado has now summer and hives have brood. Over 80% of mites are under cappings.
Oxalic trickling does not work.  http://www.wunderground.com/US/CO/Loveland.html

2)  OA TR. kills brood and makes more harm than mites. That is why you should use it when all brood have emerged.

3) Mites will die during next 2-4 weeks. Of course tens of mites should be dead on bottom next day.


There are about 20 good varroa treatment methods and trickling is one of the best if hives have brooding brake. - Do nothing is not included inside those 20 .

Oxalic acid really carefully tested in European Union. Trickling has invented in Italy.

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Offline buzzbee

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #13 on: October 22, 2007, 08:49:00 pm »
Finsky,
Could you talk a little about lactic acid treatments.I see you mentioned it on a european site!

Online Michael Bush

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #14 on: October 22, 2007, 08:49:08 pm »
My guess is by now it's freezing every night in Colorado and the queens probably quit laying about three weeks ago.  If they had the same dearth we did, they may have stopped sooner.
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Offline Finsky

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #15 on: October 23, 2007, 07:12:55 am »
.
I have still in my hives brood.  Reason is winter feeding which starts brooding again in samll scale. We met zero night teps 1,5 months ago.

But if you open every hives, there is a truth. You cannot get it from whole world.

However - we use to use oxalic acid when day tamperatures are under freezing point. Many have made too early trickling and they are mad because it has not worked. "They have not time to wait".

I have teached 2 years trickling to US, Canada and Britain on forums.  They knew almost nothing before I started in 3 forums. But still people like to use their own "systems" - why, I do not know.

European systems are very well documented in internet. Do not invenht your own. It is risky business
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Offline buzzbee

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #16 on: October 23, 2007, 07:16:19 am »
Finsky,
I wanted to know is lactic acid done the same way as oxalic acid?
I had not heard of this before.

Offline bberry

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #17 on: October 23, 2007, 07:53:24 pm »
I just used the OA trickle on my hives as they were suffering a very high mite infest. There was no brood and so i figured all clear. Used the directions for trickle method on this site and it worked really well-tons of mites dropped next day at check and still dropping! This method was quick and easy and the bees seemed not at all effected. I was fairly conservative with the application-no more than the 40ml rec. even on my hive with two boxes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will work out well but all looks good so far.
Does anyone have some advice for follow up after using this method? If there are still significant # of mites?

Offline Finsky

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #18 on: October 23, 2007, 08:04:11 pm »
Finsky,
I wanted to know is lactic acid done the same way as oxalic acid?
I had not heard of this before.

Lactic acid can only sprayed and it is laborous job. It is not any more recommend

Oxalic acid is the only one which we can trickle. Oxalic acid it very efficient against mites and safe for human consumption.

Offline buzzbee

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Re: oxalic acid application
« Reply #19 on: October 23, 2007, 10:55:18 pm »
Could it still be effective for a hobbiest?
Thanks for the reply!

 

anything