Gasvap Modifications

[pargyle]

Why are you guys having trouble getting the caps off?

I dont think they have asbestos fingers .... the caps get hot - it's made out of copper and that's a great conductor of heat,

 

[blackcloud]

Too much heat by the sounds of it.
You don't need to anneal the things in the process.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Too much heat by the sounds of it.
You don't need to anneal the things in the process.

Can't beat a soft, pliable subject to work on

 

[blackcloud]

can you post a picture of the tripod you have made would love to see.

I did mention the word 'prototype'......

 

[MillMeadow]

It's a hell of an Integrated Pest Management plan that includes a 40mm cannon!

I wouldn't ever want to meet the varrora that requires that

 

[Garry R]

They just read the outside of the box and decide to move to the next apiary

 

[JamezF]

It's a hell of an Integrated Pest Management plan that includes a 40mm cannon!

I wouldn't ever want to meet the varrora that requires that

I can't help thinking of the quote from the film "Jackie Brown": "When you absolutely, positively, have to kill every *********** in the room"

James

 

[polymath]

View attachment 35043I did mention the word 'prototype'......

WELL i have to say thanks for the picture. As a 40mm round will go 2.2km i am thinking i could mount mylself at home and hit all three of my apiaries! Seriously great and def food for thought, once i start using it i will find out if i need a stand or not. I am hoping with my tin and the caps it is so quick to move from hive to hive and reload i do not need. thanks

 

[sean-a]

I use a gas vap, have a pocket full of caps for it.
Fill them all brim full of OA - and then zap the hives one after another
If I can, the empty cap is dropped off onto a puddle on one of the hives - usually a poly one...quick sizzle and it's cooled
Either way they are cool enough to recharge or pop back into the pocket of my beesuit with bare hands by the time I have finished with the previous hive.
Don't bother weighing the OA, and am maybe using 3g - could be 2 or 4 but the bees don't mind.
Get a few ghost bees stumbling out completely covered in white, but even they seem fine.

Mites....not so much!

 

[pargyle]

I use a gas vap, have a pocket full of caps for it.
Fill them all brim full of OA - and then zap the hives one after another
If I can, the empty cap is dropped off onto a puddle on one of the hives - usually a poly one...quick sizzle and it's cooled
Either way they are cool enough to recharge or pop back into the pocket of my beesuit with bare hands by the time I have finished with the previous hive.
Don't bother weighing the OA, and am maybe using 3g - could be 2 or 4 but the bees don't mind.
Get a few ghost bees stumbling out completely covered in white, but even they seem fine.

Mites....not so much!

A cap brimful is a lot more than 3gms ... you don't really need more than the recommended 2.5 gms. You should really check the weight yuo are putting in there ... the scoop that comes with the gasvap is about 1gm when full so you need two and a half of the measuring spoon at most. Pete Little (Hivemaker) did some experiments increasing the dose above the recommended levels and found that there were no obvious signs of distressing the bees but ... increasing the dose did not show any improvement over the mite killing ... so - no need for a capful. Stick to the 2.5gms.

 

[blackcloud]

I vap through a clear top eke so need a minute to break down and the reasssemble each hive so it's a benefit to be able to leave a fine tuned gasvap running in between.
And yes 40mm rounds are slightly less holistic than icing sugar

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Pete Little (Hivemaker) did some experiments increasing the dose above the recommended levels and found that there were no obvious signs of distressing the bees but ... increasing the dose did not show any improvement over the mite killing ... so - no need for a capful. Stick to the 2.5gms.

and being a bit more than slapdash with the dosages is only giving more ammunition to anti vapers such as the BBKA to justify the continuation of restrictive over-regulation

 

[user 819]

Using the gasvap 13mm end cap measure spoon OA is approx. 1.15g - 1.3g per level fill if one just scoops up a level loose fill. A compacted fill by tapping the spoon to settle the OA it is 1.55g - 1.6g.

If one uses Api bioxal a level spoon is 1.6 - 1.65g.

A 22mm end feed cap contains 5.5g approx. of OA compacted by tapping it and 6.3g of Apibioxal.

For OA dosing two spoons of the loose fill method is needed or if using Apibioxal 1.5 spoons. If one is tapping and compacting the measure spoon then also 1.5 is the dose for 2.4 - 2.5g of OA.

Better still instead of guessing or over dosing, weigh your own samples to check and get the dose correct.

 

[sean-a]

This video by Bob Binnie talks of increased dosages of 7-8g with no adverse affects



The whole series is really interesting, but dosage at 12:10 on the video for those short of time!
Also talks of there being no feasible way for an over dosage to taint honey, and that this was the view of US FDA

Horses for courses, but I don't think it is harmful to me, the bees or the honey

 

[user 819]

I agree with JBK and the slapdash approach to measuring doses, do it correctly and use the minimum req'd.

 

[Garry R]

Can I first apologise for the above posts - computer froze and it posted any way!! However to continue with fingers crossed I think the hole drilled is 8mm and when finished I jus plug it with the correct sized dowel. (Phew - it worked)

 

[jeff33]

A cap brimful is a lot more than 3gms ... you don't really need more than the recommended 2.5 gms. You should really check the weight yuo are putting in there ... the scoop that comes with the gasvap is about 1gm when full so you need two and a half of the measuring spoon at most. Pete Little (Hivemaker) did some experiments increasing the dose above the recommended levels and found that there were no obvious signs of distressing the bees but ... increasing the dose did not show any improvement over the mite killing ... so - no need for a capful. Stick to the 2.5gms.

The weight is an interesting one. If I recall rightly although I only bought it once 3 years ago (reduced) as it was almost out of date (that's another rubbish in itself) api-b weighted more than the 99.6% pure crystals I usually use. Api-b is also inly 4.2% OA . They recommend 3.5gr but by the time you remove the added rubbish of the recommended dosage, you only end up with 0.147gr of OA.

 

[pargyle]

This video by Bob Binnie talks of increased dosages of 7-8g with no adverse affects


Horses for courses, but I don't think it is harmful to me, the bees or the honey

WELL ... You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink ...

There may be no adverse effects but there are no positive ones from overdosing ....

 

[mdotb]

The weight is an interesting one. If I recall rightly although I only bought it once 3 years ago (reduced) as it was almost out of date (that's another rubbish in itself) api-b weighted more than the 99.6% pure crystals I usually use. Api-b is also inly 4.2% OA . They recommend 3.5gr but by the time you remove the added rubbish of the recommended dosage, you only end up with 0.147gr of OA.

No.

Apibioxal is 88.6% Oxalic Acid Dihydrate (which is the same form of OA that all of the other mass values use, and what those who buy "pure" OA are getting 99.6% of in the tub). For sublimation the stated dose is 2.3g of Apibioxal which is a little over 2g of Oxalic Acid Dihydrate. There can be around 0.1g of residue because of the post-heating compounds resulting from the silica and sugar which make up the other ~10% by mass of the original product.

The authorised dose is different for trickling (works out around 3.5g Apibioxal per hive maximum, depending on how many seams of bees are present and treated) but not directly relevant to this question.

I'm not sure what you mean by "weighted more" since generic and authorised OA products are sold, and dosed, by mass. 2.5g of one weighs the same as 2.5g of the other (assuming same place, time, temperature...). The authorised dose for sublimation by Apibioxal is in fact slightly less at 2.3g. Api-bioxal is probably slightly denser than generic, owing to the additives.

 

[jeff33]

No.

Apibioxal is 88.6% Oxalic Acid Dihydrate (which is the same form of OA that all of the other mass values use, and what those who buy "pure" OA are getting 99.6% of in the tub). For sublimation the stated dose is 2.3g of Apibioxal which is a little over 2g of Oxalic Acid Dihydrate. There can be around 0.1g of residue because of the post-heating compounds resulting from the silica and sugar which make up the other ~10% by mass of the original product.

The authorised dose is different for trickling (works out around 3.5g Apibioxal per hive maximum, depending on how many seams of bees are present and treated) but not directly relevant to this question.

I'm not sure what you mean by "weighted more" since generic and authorised OA products are sold, and dosed, by mass. 2.5g of one weighs the same as 2.5g of the other (assuming same place, time, temperature...). The authorised dose for sublimation by Apibioxal is in fact slightly less at 2.3g. Api-bioxal is probably slightly denser than generic, owing to the additives.

Hands up I got it wrong for the 4.2% OA content. Just been onto the site to read a bit more about it, it was the solution for trickling!! It does recommend 2.3gr for sublimation but goes on to say that 35gr treats 10 hives...
Never been very good at maths as you can tell and neither am I very good at paying over the odds for these types of products.