beeno
Queen Bee
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2011
- Messages
- 5,181
- Reaction score
- 234
- Location
- South East
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 5
Some people on the forum end up vaping OA more than 3 times every 5 days, which makes one think that it is not a very effective treatment, and then resort to another treatment with considerable drop. I found the following quote from scientific beekeeping which may throw some light on the matter.
Quote
Oxalic Acid: Part 2 Heat Vaporization and Other Methods
How does oxalic vaporization work? In the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics we find that upon heating oxalic acid, the water of hydration boils off first, then at 315°F the oxalic acid starts to sublime (go directly from solid to vapor), and finally at 372°F any oxalic acid which has not yet sublimed decomposes to initially to formic acid and carbon dioxide, and then to CO2, carbon monoxide, and water). One of the problems with some vaporizers is that they get too hot too quickly and decompose, rather than evaporate the acid.
During application, the warm fog of tiny crystals (it’s no longer vapor shortly after leaving the vaporizer) rises within the confines of the hive bodies, and grow on surfaces inside the hive, including on the setae of at least some bees:
Unquote
I have seen a foto of the inside of a hive after being covered in the crystals and it is a big task for the bees to keep cleaning it up time and time again.
Quote
Oxalic Acid: Part 2 Heat Vaporization and Other Methods
How does oxalic vaporization work? In the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics we find that upon heating oxalic acid, the water of hydration boils off first, then at 315°F the oxalic acid starts to sublime (go directly from solid to vapor), and finally at 372°F any oxalic acid which has not yet sublimed decomposes to initially to formic acid and carbon dioxide, and then to CO2, carbon monoxide, and water). One of the problems with some vaporizers is that they get too hot too quickly and decompose, rather than evaporate the acid.
During application, the warm fog of tiny crystals (it’s no longer vapor shortly after leaving the vaporizer) rises within the confines of the hive bodies, and grow on surfaces inside the hive, including on the setae of at least some bees:
Unquote
I have seen a foto of the inside of a hive after being covered in the crystals and it is a big task for the bees to keep cleaning it up time and time again.