Oxalic Acid

[Hivemaker.]

You feeling okay Ian,hope you have not ingested any oxalic acid, causing damage to your malpighian tubules,and causing permanant internal lesions,like it would to all your little workers.

 

[MrB]

You feeling okay Ian,hope you have not ingested any oxalic acid,

All mine comes from rhubarb & carrots (beats rhubarb & custard any time)

 

[Finman]

.
I think that I will not get sleep into my eyes to night. At least I must sleep another eye open.

(But I have seen even better: to plant thyme around hives)

 

[Poly Hive]

I use OA in Jan.

I check drone brood all summer and oddly, and I am serious as it is odd, see no varroa at all. ??

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

.
(But I have seen even better: to plant thyme around hives)

What,and no winter carrots.

 

[itma]

I use OA in Jan.

I check drone brood all summer and oddly, and I am serious as it is odd, see no varroa at all. ??

PH

None? At all? Solid zero every time?


If so, why treat with Oxalic? (genuine question, puzzled)
Its only claimed to affect mites on adult bees, and not AFAIK to build up resistance to them.
Seems strange (from here) to treat if there is absolutely no problem there at all.


I wonder what could account for this good fortune?
Growing Thyme?

 

[mazzamazda]

Varroa treatment to me is a little like advertising, you have to do it. Just because you don't see signs of varroa DEFO doesn't mean you don't have it. I don't see many signs of varroa but I still treat with thymol and oa and have some drops.

 

[Finman]

I use OA in Jan.

I check drone brood all summer and oddly, and I am serious as it is odd, see no varroa at all. ??

PH

I check same way mites from drone brood. I specially remember one summer when I saw under total 10 mites in 20 hives. When I trickled the hives, every hive dropped at least 300 mites.

Last Autumn I lost several hives. The reason was 2 unlucky treatments. The amount become too big before winter bee rearing.

 

[Finman]

Varroa treatment to me is a little like advertising, you have to do it. Just because you don't see signs of varroa DEFO doesn't mean you don't have it. I don't see many signs of varroa but I still treat with thymol and oa and have some drops.

it tells that your treatments are succesfull.

 

[Skyhook]

I check same way mites from drone brood. I specially remember one summer when I saw under total 10 mites in 20 hives. When I trickled the hives, every hive dropped at least 300 mites.

Last Autumn I lost several hives. The reason was 2 unlucky treatments. The amount become too big before winter bee rearing.

To add my tiny scrap of experience to Finman's- last year (my first) I was monitoring mites by checking drone brood, and was delighted that there was b****r all. Late in the season I got a decent OMF and was able to moniror using the board- found I had awful numbers, when I put apiguard on they fell like rain for WEEKS. I don't know how brood monitoring can not work, but it doesn't seem reliable.

 

[Skyhook]

Posted twice.

 

[oliver90owner]

I check drone brood all summer and oddly, and I am serious as it is odd, see no varroa at all. ??

Time for new specs, PH?

The amount become too big before winter bee rearing.

By that I am thinking you mean the varroa load became too big?

I think treating effectively before winter brooding is far more important , for over-wintering bees, than any oxalic treatment in January. If the pupating stages of the winter bees have been infected with all sorts of pathogen, they are far less likely to survive the winter months. Too late by far, to expect oxalic to help in those cases.

Just goes to demonstrate the only good points going for oxalic is it a) kills mites (although too late by then, perhaps) when ineffective varroa control has been applied the previous season and b) affords the beekeeper a fair chance of getting them through to the next ineffective treatment the following year, should the colony survive to spring.

That is why I don't do it that way. Effective autumn treatment and IPM throughout the rest of the year is a far better strategy for me, but a little more labour intensive (commercial cost for bee farmers) and the beekeeper needs the ability to observe the situation all the time, not just when he/she suddenly realises there is a serious problem.

Relying on one single sign/symptom to measure mite infestation is folly, in my view. More than one, or even several different observations on a regular basis will afford a better overview of the situation, than one single check. In other words a failing method will still be failing next time it is used.

RAB

 

[Ruary]

I think treating effectively before winter brooding is far more important , for over-wintering bees, than any oxalic treatment in January. If the pupating stages of the winter bees have been infected with all sorts of pathogen, they are far less likely to survive the winter months. Too late by far, to expect oxalic to help in those cases.

I agree, better to get the virus load down before the bee go into winter mode.
Ruary