Oxalic Acid Vaporizer

[user 819]

Hope the proposal is not to place 1lb of carrots under the CB, what ever next Rhubarb leaves ?

 

[Apiarisnt]

Hope the proposal is not to place 1lb of carrots under the CB, what ever next Rhubarb leaves ?

Putting carrots in a Sublimox surely cannot gum it up worse than does Apibioxal.

On the other hand, if they ate the carrots, then perhaps the bees would be able to see in the dark and forage at night?

 

[citrus]

Depends on your budget and how much use you're going to put it to. A varrox is my choice, a bit over £100.00 but made to last, not cheap and nasty
If you are going to vape in December you will probably get away with one dose as hopefully they'll be broodless. But if going for a series of doses, you only need three spaced five days apart as you are covering the mite brood cycle, not the bees', but to be honest I give my bees four doses just to make sure.

Interested in this ... I did a speculative vape the other night (gasvape under the mesh floor thru the gap in the payne poly hive) ... and was wondering about the spacing ... but you think I should repeat the vape 4 times in 20days ... my feeling is doing it around now is helping winter bees formation .... that said last year i did do vaping around dec - when do you do it ?

 

[Boston Bees]

Interested in this ... I did a speculative vape the other night (gasvape under the mesh floor thru the gap in the payne poly hive) ... and was wondering about the spacing ... but you think I should repeat the vape 4 times in 20days ... my feeling is doing it around now is helping winter bees formation .... that said last year i did do vaping around dec - when do you do it ?

Winter bees are already mostly out of their cells by now, and if you haven't treated yet then they probably shared those cells with varroa mites, and thus may have viruses of some sort - vaping in late October is too late to help them with that.

You need to be culling the mite population in August and September, so that there are fewer mites around to infect the winter bees as they develop in September and October.

But if you haven't done it at all, then yes, do it now, using the timetable JBM set out. Just do it earlier in future years, IMHO.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

that said last year i did do vaping around dec - when do you do it ?

I start my four vape (once every five days) cycle around the middle of September, then, if I feel like it another single dose in mid to late December

 

[Erichalfbee]

I do mine around the end of August early September. I’d be interested in how folk leaving supers on for Ivy manage

 

[Murox]

My round of vapes is usually late August or early September. This year it was early September, they'll get a single dose mid winter.

 

[citrus]

bah ... ok well thanks for that ... i was late taking off supers due to good weather down here but will set a calendar entry for next year and get cracking on this now then to play catch up

 

[Swarm]

bah ... ok well thanks for that ... i was late taking off supers due to good weather down here but will set a calendar entry for next year and get cracking on this now then to play catch up

That's one bit of beekeeping you can do by the calendar, decide when to start treating and stick to it.

 

[The Poot]

I start early September and do as many vapes, four days apart as required. This year one colony only needed two (but had four) another needed six.
I vape again late December.

 

[pargyle]

Winter bees are already mostly out of their cells by now, and if you haven't treated yet then they probably shared those cells with varroa mites, and thus may have viruses of some sort - vaping in late October is too late to help them with that.

You need to be culling the mite population in August and September, so that there are fewer mites around to infect the winter bees as they develop in September and October.

But if you haven't done it at all, then yes, do it now, using the timetable JBM set out. Just do it earlier in future years, IMHO.

I'm not sure that's strictly true... from the looks of things my queens are still laying and the recent warm weather means that they have been flying regularly, whilst every there are foragers flying they will continue to brood until they really stop flying and those last couple of weeks will form the bulk of the winter survivors as they won't become foragers (depends of course upon what your local climate is like).

So ... I don't think it's that late to be treating where Citrus is. Ideally - a slightly earlier start but beekeeping is not something you can do by the calendar - judging what is happening and acting according to what is going on is the name of the game.

Once the bees stop flying there is an opportunity to vape and this will catch any mites that have escaped and earlier set of vapes. One of the advantages of vaping is that you can really do it as often as you wish - it does not harm brood, the bees tolerate it well and you can almost instantly see the result if you have an inspection board in place. It's just a pity the VMD don't recognise what is undoubtedly the best, safest and most effective treatment for varroa....

 

[pargyle]

That's one bit of beekeeping you can do by the calendar, decide when to start treating and stick to it.

That's one bit of beekeeping advice I would ignore - beekeeping is NEVER by the calendar. Local conditions, local climate, your bees, and even what the year is like, the way you keep them ... all contrive to make the calendar only useful for making notes about when you did things ... not for predicting when you should do them !

 

[krennie]

I used Apiguard dish treatments in late August and September ( two treatments) but bee contact says also necessary in December to do oxalic treatment? But then said 'of course it is my choice'! What is your opinion please? everyone agree with this?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Winter bees are already mostly out of their cells by now,

I'm not sure that's strictly true...

there seems to be a trend over the last few years of blinkered calendar following with, it seems every year some are stating that winter bees are made earlier and earlier - but with little proof of that fact, before long we will be told that winter bees are made in June, and shortly afterwards.... May Day! same goes for treatment in general, I remember a few years ago the forum being told it was imperative that Apiguard was put on the hives on a particular day in early August.
It won't be long before we'll be told to start winter feeding immediately after the June gap

 

[Patrick1]

For me its Oxalic in late Jan when its really cold ideally

 

[Swarm]

That's one bit of beekeeping advice I would ignore - beekeeping is NEVER by the calendar. Local conditions, local climate, your bees, and even what the year is like, the way you keep them ... all contrive to make the calendar only useful for making notes about when you did things ... not for predicting when you should do them !

Tripe.
Of course you can decide when you are going to treat, far better idea than hanging on for a chance of more honey. Temperatures are less favourable the later you leave it so some treatments are less effective
Remember, OAV is not licenced and neither is multiple vaping with the licenced stuff.

 

[Boston Bees]

there seems to be a trend over the last few years of blinkered calendar following with, it seems every year some are stating that winter bees are made earlier and earlier - but with little proof of that fact, before long we will be told that winter bees are made in June, and shortly afterwards.... May Day! same goes for treatment in general, I remember a few years ago the forum being told it was imperative that Apiguard was put on the hives on a particular day in early August.
It won't be long before we'll be told to start winter feeding immediately after the June gap

 

[krennie]

hi - my question is more a question of 'is it necessary to do the oxalic treatment as well as the apiguard?'

 

[Swarm]

hi - my question is more a question of 'is it necessary to do the oxalic treatment as well as the apiguard?'

Can't really say. In my association, Winter OA treatment was seen as a belt and braces approach as many did Apiguard late due to trying to capitalise on the Balsam crop.
Better to err on the side of caution if you are unsure, IMO.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Tripe.
Of course you can decide when you are going to treat, far better idea than hanging on for a chance of more honey. Temperatures are less favourable the later you leave it so some treatments are less effective
Remember, OAV is not licenced and neither is multiple vaping with the licenced stuff.

When did you treat? I remember you saying last week you’d brought some Ivy supers home?
And yes you CAN decide when to treat but I think what others mean is the timing of that decision is moveable depending on weather and flow…… like late balsam