I need a plan for varoa

[domino]

At the BBKA convention I was talking to one of the researchers from LASI who recommend OA vaporisation.
He warned me that some people are being rather casual about safety when handling OA.
You should wear safety goggles, gloves and an approved respirator even when handling and weighing it out, and especially when vaping it. Turning your head and hoping the wind doesn't change direction is not enough!
It's very toxic.
I bought some from the WBKA convention. It was sealed and wrapped in a carrier bag. I could still taste it on my lips as I wrapped it in a second carrier bag.

I look like I'm clearing toixc waste when I use it. Full face mask, chemical gloves etc

 

[MuswellMetro]

I look like I'm clearing toixc waste when I use it. Full face mask, chemical gloves etc

half face mask, goggles and disposable gloves, i have emerged wearing mask goggle and full veiled up white bee suit from a wood into a crowd of walkers only to see shock and horror on their faces

 

[mjt68]

I had 9 colonies going into winter. In September all colonies had apiguard on. In January I used a home made vapouriser on 7 of the hives (unfortunately my car battery died before I could complete the last 2 and I never got round to completing)
I have lost one of the 9, I thought due to being too small but now I am not sure. I was watching the bees this afternoon and one bee was resting on a fence post in front of the hive. I noticed she had a varroa on her back. Which got me wondering if I had a problem with varroa.
I am desperate to carry out my first inspection but the weather hasn't gone above about 12 degrees yet, so I have held off.

So what I would like to do is carry out a thorough course of varroa treatment. My method is to add a thumb nail sized mound of oxalic acid into my vapouriser and treat all hives, then repeat. Is this a satisfactory method and how often should I repeat.

Will it do any harm in any respect?

Back to the OP - you have no reason to be concerned about your colonies, just that you think you saw one mite on one bee one time. I'd say it's more likely you say Braula coeca since Varroa is small, hard to say and hides between segments and other gaps. From what you've said there's no reason to believe anything is wrong and no reason to treat. OA harms bees, but generally the harm done is outweighed by the beneficial effect of killing mites. If you use it again and again with no need you're harming your bees (and maybe yourself) unnecessarily and helping Varroa to evolve resistance to treatments.

 

[pargyle]

OA harms bees, but generally the harm done is outweighed by the beneficial effect of killing mites. If you use it again and again with no need you're harming your bees (and maybe yourself) unnecessarily and helping Varroa to evolve resistance to treatments.

I'm not sure that's actually right ... I've seen very little effect on the bees when I've used OA Sublimation; the bees are hardly phased by it at all and in terms of afterwards, a sluggish colony with a heavy mite load in my experience goes off like a train .. I would totally agree that people should only be treating when it is necessary and certainly within the recommended limits (although Hivemaker has far exceeded any sensible levels of treatments with no adverse effects on his colonies !). I also have doubts that mites will build up a tolerance to OA - at least in the foreseeable future (personally - I think Millennia !). OA Trickling in mid winter I think is pretty dreadful treatment to inflict on your bees and there is evidence that the good this does has associated risks to the colony attached to it.

Like everything in beekeeping a degree of common sense is required and a bit of thought before doing anything that will affect their natural ability to survive ...

 

[mjt68]

It looks like it has subtle (but statistically significant) long-term effects. This doesn't specifically look at vaporisation but I think it's enough to shift the burden of proof.

You may disagree (no paper is perfect) but if so, I propose that we do our own experiments. There are tons of beeks on here with tons of bees, more than enough for some citizen science! If anyone is interested, let me know!

 

[Poly Hive]

Rather unlikely to be Braula. They are historic now with all the Varroa treatments.

PH

 

[pargyle]

It looks like it has subtle (but statistically significant) long-term effects. This doesn't specifically look at vaporisation but I think it's enough to shift the burden of proof.

You may disagree (no paper is perfect) but if so, I propose that we do our own experiments. There are tons of beeks on here with tons of bees, more than enough for some citizen science! If anyone is interested, let me know!

Yes .. I've read that paper previously .. but it only relates to OA applied in liquid forn .. and I would totally agree that drenching a colony in a solution of OA in sugar syrup (whilst a very effective treatment) has shown to have negative effects on the colony. However, when it is sublimated, the OA is just deposited on the comb (and the bees) as a very very fine powder - they seem to clean this residue up very quickly as it doesn't hang about in the hive - I've seen a bit left on the outer frames a week or so later but not excessive amounts. I wonder if this is what makes the difference ?

I know LASI are doing a lot of work with OA by sublimation and hopefully they will be producing some definitive information in due course. In the meantime, the members on this forum seem to me to be the most authorative about OA by sublimation and it's use/effects ... it seems to be a pretty rare treatment amongst beekeepers generally - or that's the impression I get ..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes .. I've read that paper previously .. but it only relates to OA applied in liquid forn .. .... they seem to clean this residue up very quickly as it doesn't hang about in the hive - I've seen a bit left on the outer frames a week or so later but not excessive amounts. I wonder if this is what makes the difference ?

I think the difference is, that in syrup trickle the bees eat the syrup thus the OA gets ingested - more or less the same as the 'new' cure for Nosema C is OA trickling to get the OA inside the bees' gut

 

[pargyle]

I think the difference is, that in syrup trickle the bees eat the syrup thus the OA gets ingested - more or less the same as the 'new' cure for Nosema C is OA trickling to get the OA inside the bees' gut

Yes ... that makes a lot of sense to me !!

 

[Hivemaker.]

I know LASI are doing a lot of work with OA by sublimation and hopefully they will be producing some definitive information in due course.

They have done some, so have I.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00218839.2015.1106777

The results show that sublimation is the best method, in that in gives greater varroa mortality at lower doses, and results in no harm to the colonies. In fact, colonies treated via sublimation had significantly more brood in spring that controls

Vaporisation of oxalic acid in a field trial with 1'509 colonies

http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/files/__www.mellifera.de_engl2.pdf


http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/Varroa/vaporisation_of_oxalic_acid_in_b.htm

 

[pargyle]

I'm not sure that's actually right ... I've seen very little effect on the bees when I've used OA Sublimation; the bees are hardly phased by it at all and in terms of afterwards, a sluggish colony with a heavy mite load in my experience goes off like a train .. I would totally agree that people should only be treating when it is necessary and certainly within the recommended limits (although Hivemaker has far exceeded any sensible levels of treatments with no adverse effects on his colonies !). .......

They have done some, so have I.

Yes .... everything points towards OA by sublimation to be as near to the magic bullet as anyone has got so far ...