OA 6% in distilled water,30%sugar + water

[Suzi Q]

I know beekeepers who ventilate the nest in autumn in order to stop the brooding.

It could be useful in the UK as well.

dave[minus]cushman.net/bee/wallyshaw.html

Yes..that's where I found the info. Dave Cushman's website. Since it has been so mild in the UK for the past 2 months, excepting the past few days, I'm sure there is still brood in the hives. Checked the varroa tray and there is what looks like brood cappings in the centre, as well as lighter cappings at the edges; eating their stores! So have gone against all advice of the forum and removed insulation and provided a small amount of ventilation!

 

[dickndoris]

If you have the 6% premixed just dilute it rather than waste it. If you buy oxalic acid it's likely to be in 500g packs which for 3 or 4 hives will last decades.

To get to the proportions advocated by Hivemaker, take 100g of your 6% oxalic, 30% sugar premixed. Add 60g of sugar, add 30g of water.

100g of the 6% oxalic, 30% sugar premixed will have 6g of oxalic, 30g of sugar and 64g of water, you have made this up to 190g of solution which is likely to be enough for 3 or 4 hives:

64g +30g of water = 94g = 50%
30g +60g of sugar = 90g = 47%
6g of oxalic = 3.2%

The actual percentages are 3.16% oxalic, 47.4% sugar, 49.5% water but the round numbers are easier to work with. One of the small digital scales sold for 'postal' weighing is easily accurate enough to weigh to the gram in the 0-200g range.

I think it better to just get rid as risk an unknown. Will be making up some fresh accurate stuff this morning if the local bee emporium has the crystals in still.
R

 

[dickndoris]

I bought some 6% oxalic acid solution from Maisemore last month.

I picked up a sheet of maisemore instructions. No mention of diluting it. Im confused now

Well, I wont be using my one or diluting it as it is an unknown. Going to buy the crystals and do my own. Should have done that in the first place then I only have myself to blame. Looking at the reaction maybe you should do the same Roachman?

R

 

[johnfly]

i phoned maisemores this morning and asked about their 6% oxalic acid ready made and they told me that it is ready to use as it is with no dilution

 

[alanf]

I think it better to just get rid as risk an unknown. Will be making up some fresh accurate stuff this morning if the local bee emporium has the crystals in still.
R

Entirely your choice. The crystals are not expensive.

All you need is a way of weighing quantities of 7.5g and 100g and measuring the solution out in 5ml doses when you come to using it.

Many of the posters on here are perfectly happy making up or adjusting their own solutions, which is fine. In contrast, several of the people I have spoken to locally are not comfortable with weighing and making up solutions. They have no day to day experience of working with chemicals and see it as something beyond their competence. For them, the made up solutions are attractive.

Similar situation to buying over the counter medicines, more comfortable with a dose pre-packed in a tablet and even happier if it's branded. Yet the packet states a dose of 2 tablets for any adult over 12. Anything from junior long distance beanpoles to sumo wrestlers, that's a pretty wide range of effective doses. If you're at either extreme the effectiveness may differ from the average and being aware of that should be part of the decision to take the medicine or not.

I don't think any of the comments here are far from the principle: If you do decide to treat, then trickling oxalic in syrup is easy at the right time of year. The treatment has an established history of effectiveness across northern Europe in the concentration range 3-3.5% (w/w). Fair summary?

All I'm trying to say is that buying a solution (or any pre-packed treatment) does not mean you can omit reading the labels. If you want to know why the prepared "New Zealand formula" is labelled as 4.5% while others are saying 3.2%, then ask. The active concentration is much closer than a glance at the labelling would suggest. Whether it's bees, pets or family be aware of what you're using and why.

 

[Finman]

.
Something wrong in UK system if you cannot sell 3,2% solution.
We have the same law in bee veterinary (EU) but we sell here 3,2 solution.

Controwise you bye from Italy 6% solution: water and sugar.

"No one is so smart as human except an engineer"

 

[alanf]

.
Something wrong in UK system if you cannot sell 3,2% solution.
We have the same law in bee veterinary (EU) but we sell here 3,2 solution.

Controwise you bye from Italy 6% solution: water and sugar.

"No one is so smart as human except an engineer"

Not sure where you got the impression oxalic solutions cannot be sold at any particular concentrations in the UK. Because it has other uses, there is nothing to stop you selling any solution of it in the UK. Not aware of any restrictions on how you use it in the UK but there are elsewhere; there are warnings on the FIBKA Irish web site that treating bees with oxalic needs a veterinary surgeon prescription. http://www.irishbeekeeping.ie/beehealth/fibkavarroa.html perhaps one of the Irish keepers could comment on whether that restriction is taken seriously.

I think it's a valid question as to why the UK suppliers stock what they do. Thornes list an 'own brand' 100ml of 3.2% solution in a dispenser bottle for the small scale keeper which is the only premixed they have listed. Most of the other UK bee supply companies do seem to stock the Italian versions in 500ml or 1000ml containers.

Some have the one labelled "3% in 30% sugar" white label, some the "4.5% in 60% sugar New Zealand formulation" light blue label, some "6% in 30% sugar" yellow label. As far as I can gather the EC 205-634-3 reference is oxalic dihydride on the safety data sheet, so the quoted "percentage" is likely to be the weight of oxalic dihydride crystals per volume. You might have to confirm that with the manufacturer. If you translate the weight per volume of oxalic dihydrate on a label to weight percentage of pure oxalic; 3% on the white label is 2.14% by weight, 4.5% on the blue label is 3.21% by weight, 6% on the yellow label is 4.28% by weight. These would correspond closely to the three concentrations cited by Nanetti et al in http://www.apimondia.com/apiacta/articles/2003/nanetti.pdf .

What I find puzzling is that each UK supplier stocks only one concentration but the one stocked varies. As ITLD pointed out, the variation and labelling of these solutions is confusing. Why the suppliers choose to stock the one they do, you would have to ask them.