Oxalic time........on its way

[Pete D]

Cold , cold cold forecasted for this weekend in my area and generally the next week or so. Thinking about the brood cycle of 3 weeks and Christmas bearing down on us it looks as though the time is looking about spot on for my oxalic treatment this year with a period of no brood coincideing with my festive break.

Pete D

Oops I mentioned the C word.......

 

[eddiespangle]

It'll be good to get a glimpse of the girls!

 

[Haughton Honey]

Oops I mentioned the C word.......

Cold?!

 

[theboynelson]

Oops I mentioned the C word.......

Coinciding?

 

[Pete D]

Christmas

oops did it again

 

[Arfermo]

It'll be good to get a glimpse of the girls!

Odd. I don't open mine up for oxalic!!!!!

 

[Pete D]

I trickle it down the seams of bees, directly on to them, crown board off for about 90 seconds, is there another way
Pete D

 

[eddiespangle]

I trickle it down the seams of bees, directly on to them, crown board off for about 90 seconds, is there another way
Pete D

That method works for me. A warm day would be a bonus!

 

[Pete D]

To ensure I work quickly I preload the syringe full and have Mrs D help me, I remove roof and crack crown board, she lifts and holds over and gives a knock if required, I count seams and trickle the correct amount per seam and replaces crown board, she then adds note to record under roof including number of seams and then closes up.
I top up the syringe and we move on to the next hive.
We both wear rubber gloves.
Pete D

 

[susbees]

That method works for me. A warm day would be a bonus!

Don't think so. Remembering last winter when it wasn't possible to get even a few cold days in a row to turn off brooding reliably and the oxalic went on when they were loosely clustered and flying - on a "warm" day.

And I agree with Pete - a second pair of hands is very useful for those using the simple syringe technique - my then ten year old (with appropriate protective gear) was excellent at it last year.

 

[victor meldrew]

That method works for me. A warm day would be a bonus!

Aldi do a micro wavable jar , ideal for transporting oxalis acid syrup to the apiary. At least I drench mine with warm syrup at £4.99, cheap enough to keep for this purpose ?
VM

 

[MuswellMetro]

I have field kettle that i use to boil water, then use the boiling water in a bucket to warm oxalic syrup

 

[peteinwilts]

mine gets warmed then goes in a flask... the plastic sort.

has a handy cup to tip some for loading the syringe.

 

[For want of a better word]

I trickle it down the seams of bees, directly on to them, crown board off for about 90 seconds, is there another way
Pete D

VAPORISE !!​

​

 

[richardbees]

arfermo

Odd. I don't open mine up for oxalic!!!!!

how do you treat them without lifting off the crownboard?

r

 

[Amari]

I too lift off the crown board and trickle along each seam of bees which are easily visible because my brood box is above a super (into which I had previously fed syrup when the super was above the BB). My question is: does the oxalic acid kill or merely stun the Varroa mites? If the latter then maybe they fall off the bees but might lodge in the super below and survive to wreak havoc another day?

 

[richardbees]

As I recall it's 95% + mortality

 

[farbee]

mine gets warmed then goes in a flask... the plastic sort.

has a handy cup to tip some for loading the syringe.

Did not realise oxalic acid needed to be warm!!
Is that really necessary or does it make it easier?

 

[Pete D]

Its more pleasant for the bees than dowsing them in freezing liquid, imagine the cluster temperature and then we come along and cover them in cold gooey liquid. Ought to be at least room temperature
cheers
Pete D

 

[Stiffy]

People need to work out from their own location and work out if you have brood before even contemplating treating with oxalic acid. Where I live, I doubt there are many years/winters were they don't have some and for this reason I believe treating with acid does more harm than good. My treatments are given autumn and early spring, lost one nuc last winter which was always too small to be taken forward.
S


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