Colony died off - honey still safe to eat?

[Angularity]

This reference is quoted time and time again (I think it was from a NZ study if I recollect) .... it refers to dribbling in autumn and testing again in the following Spring.

Is there any data showing OA levels the day, week or month after sublimation or trickling? This is what's being discussed here and in all the questions about whether it's "safe to vape" when there are supers on, or if the supers are removed for one day or whatever.

I'm not aware of any ... is anyone?

The vapour pressure of oxalic acid is very low, so it's unlikely to have evaporated from the hive. My understanding is that it crystallises on the bees, and is moved about on the surface of the bees via movement and grooming, killing mites as it goes, then falling off and through the mesh floor.

So I would guess that the liquid would spread about on the surface of any capped cells, drying as the water in the solution evaporates, then the crystals would dissolve in the honey when the caps are removed and the honey is extracted.

I can't believe that there are any tests of intermediate levels between trickling and the spring, simply because everyone 'knows' that OA is dangerous, so you wouldn't need that information.

 

[fatshark]

I can't believe that there are any tests of intermediate levels between trickling and the spring, simply because everyone 'knows' that OA is dangerous, so you wouldn't need that information.

Using the commercial kits it's also an expensive test to do.

It's clear - from this thread alone, and dozens of others here and on Beesource - that a) not everyone does 'know', and b) since the widespread use of sublimation by some beekeepers has made OA treatment at times other than midwinter much more practical ... it would help to know.