Oxalic Acid & Double Brood

[Andy Fotheringham]

Did my OA treatment today on my double brood commercial setup. When I took off the crown board there were a few bees wandering around on top of the frames but I could not see any cluster. I ran the OA down between the frames of the top box anyway. Afterwards I had some doubts about what I had done. Could the OA have any adverse effects if it was not administered directly onto the cluster. I assume other double brooders have the same problem as I expect you would not split the boxes at this time of year. I know it's too late now but any pros/cons as to what I have done?
Also had a few bees bringing something back like SteveJ.

 

[BobsBees]

Ok Andy,
Just an observation from me, if you had an OMF floor fitted you would be able to see where the cluster is by the debris from the uncapped stores.
You can even track their movements if you have a look and clean off the board every week or so.
This what I do and I count the Varroa at the same time especially after Oxalic treatment.
Bob.

 

[RoofTops]

If you have double brood don't try and split them to find the bees. I've done that and it is quite "entertaining" - the bees were not happy.

If you don't know where the cluster is just trickle 5mls down every gap. Any excess which misses bees will eventually drain away out of the bottom of the hive.