Oxalic Acid vaping regimes

[MrMouse]

Hi folks,
I’m going to use vaporised OA as part of my treatments this year.

What regimes do you all follow? I know that some do a single dose, others do a few spaced apart.

I’d be grateful to hear about what you all do.

Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

this year? which is almost at the end, or do you mean next season

 

[MrMouse]

this year? which is almost at the end, or do you mean next season

I mean over the winter - as an adjunct to the apivar strips removed the other week.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

over the winter, one dose is sufficient - done a little while after a cold snap, anytime after now really

 

[Sutty]

You're aiming for a treatment when they are broodless so that the mites can't hide in sealed cells.
So a treatment whenever you think that will be is what you want, though multiple at likely points over winter won't do any harm. Personally I find it hard to judge when they are broodless.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In the end, this midwinter OA routine started when the only delivery method was trickling, and as multiple trickling is harmful to the bees (especially the queen) people had to find a broodless period, usually midwinter, for one good hit, then the usual suspects rolled up and invented this winter solstice nonsense.
Basically, if you do your autumn varroa eradication correctly you don't need to do a midwinter one although it can be useful as a mopup, especially if you are in an area populated with leavitalone beehavers so you risk re-infestation before the next season.
I have apiaries which seldom (never in one case) get a winter vape and one that I ensure gets one because of neighbouring hives, although I may be in the clear as I believe those apiaries no longer exist. It's more a case of if the weather is OK and I have time on my hands than a matter of necessity.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Critical to treat 3 times at 5-day intervals; that is, days 1, 6 and 11. The schedule was worked out by Peter Little many years ago.

This beekeeper treated at 7-day intervals, which failed to deal with varroa.
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/some-help-on-what-has-happened-here.57659/

 

[polymath]

Hi folks,
I’m going to use vaporised OA as part of my treatments this year.

What regimes do you all follow? I know that some do a single dose, others do a few spaced apart.

I’d be grateful to hear about what you all do.

Thanks

Generally mid december has been identified as when there is least brood - LASI research. Two treatments 5 - 10 day apart for maximum efficacy, note VMD only allows for single treatment if you want to follow. Your choice. Dosage again using LASI research is standard if i rememder 4.5gms per hive

 

[Colinkemp]

You're aiming for a treatment when they are broodless so that the mites can't hide in sealed cells.
So a treatment whenever you think that will be is what you want, though multiple at likely points over winter won't do any harm. Personally I find it hard to judge when they are broodless.

Would a lack of biscuit coloured debris on the Varroa tray indicate low or nil brood emergence?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Would a lack of biscuit coloured debris on the Varroa tray indicate low or nil brood emergence?

It might indicate brood wasn’t emerging but not that there was none

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Dosage again using LASI research is standard if i rememder 4.5gms per hive

nowhere near - 2.25g
and Lasi have never explored multiple vapings. Ratnieks flatly refused even to trial it.
and as for treatment ten days apart - you might as well just dab the damned stuff behind your ears.

 

[echidna]

I do mine based on fall on the monitoring board - I don't make any assumptions about autumn treatments doing the job. I've also found that a single vape when apparently broodless wasn't sufficient, based on ongoing mite fall. Maybe that's because my vapouriser or technique wasn't good, but I was following the instructions to the best of my ability.
I've done vapes every 4-5 days (timing dependent on weather so not too windy and not so cold bees likely to cluster) until I'm just getting a few mites falling over the two days after vaping. I know this goes against the regulations which only allow one per season but obviously there aren't supers on so I assume it's just a risk to the bees themselves (versus the risk posed by the varroa).

 

[pargyle]

I know this goes against the regulations which only allow one per season but obviously there aren't supers on so I assume it's just a risk to the bees themselves (versus the risk posed by the varroa).

No ... vaping does not harm the bees or the brood ... it's just miguided and ill-informed practice laid down in law by the VMD and regulatory bodies.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

vaping does not harm the bees or the brood

The trouble is, in the rush to corner the market on OA, they makers of Apibioxial just cobbled a 'one size fits all' set of instructions based on the LASI paper which covered vaping and trickling. Multiple trickling does harm the bees as they ingest it as they clean up the syrup which is the application vehicle, more importantly, the queen lives longer than one season so she gets a heavier dose of ingested OA