Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: plane3 on May 25, 2013, 11:23:57 pm
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Been hearing about vaporizer with oxalic acid for mites, anyone know anything about this plus or minis.
Thanks
plane3
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I did it a few times until I found out how dangerous it was to the beekeeper.
It can rot out the tissue surrounding your eyeball and burn you lungs if you
get any of the vapor in your face. I now use Formic Acid on a fume board.
Much safer and very effective
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Formic acid can be just as dangerous if used improperly. There are two ways to vaporize oxalic. One is with a 12 volt burner and the other with a torch and a pc of pipe. There is a bunch of info out there on building and using pipe fittings and a torch. The problem with the torch method is you have to be to close to the action. You can save money on the homemade pipe burner but you'll need a full face resporator and they aren't cheap. The 12 volt models alows you to be as far away as you want by adding a long wire. You dont have to worry about the wind shifting. I have 25 ft on my burner so I can use my truck battery to operate it. You should also know that Oxalic although used all over the world including canada for mites is not registered in the USA. You can however bleach your top bars with woodbleach (oxalic acid) which will kill alot of mites.
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where is the best place to buy oxalic acid? i use to get it at the drug store but they dont carry it anymore.
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At the hardware store. Dap, wood bleach.
One small can will last a few years!
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I made my vaporizer out of 1/2" SST pipe with a
3/8" X 3' delivery tube. It looks good but is as yet untested. I bought the Oxalic Acid at the local True Value Hardware.
I also purchased an acid vapor rated half mask respirator and plan to use goggles just to be safe. I would rather trickle oxalic but I'm not sure that I have a broodless period.
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interesting reading about oxalic acid treatment. it seems very effective in Europe ..
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I also purchased an acid vapor rated half mask respirator and plan to use goggles just to be safe.
Being aware of the wind direction also helps. And having a cellphone with you (in case you can't drive afterwards), as well as a big jug of clean water in case you get any of it on your skin, is also a good idea.If you can get throw-away gloves (like the ones doctors use), do that as well -- it's so easy to get the stuff on your hands, and then rub your eyes while driving home.
The big thing with acid treatment is that you must respect it. Household chemicals are so "safe" to use these days that one can easily forget to be actually careful when using less consumer friendly acids.