Hi I'm new to the forum, just wondering if anyone has treated with oxalic acid yet, as due to recent mild spell not sure if I should treat now or leave a little longer ? .
Hi I'm new to the forum, just wondering if anyone has treated with oxalic acid yet, as due to recent mild spell not sure if I should treat now or leave a little longer ? .
I would advise you to leave it for a while. In normal weather the best time to do it is after a 3 week or more cold spell so as to ensure that there is Nil or very little brood, capped or otherwise, or eggs. The point of this is that the varroa live within the capped brood cells and only emerge when the bee does. However, normally the emerging varroa would dive into any available uncapped larvae cells but if there aren't any or many the only place they can go is onto the bees themselves. That is where you want them for oxalic to have the greatest effect. For that reason, early Jan would normally be best but because of the abnormally mild weather so far this year, it might be better to hang on for a couple more weeks. Your shout.
Thanks for the reply's, I decided to give it a little longer, and treated mine on 28 December, glad I didn't wait any longer as the weathers taken a turn for the worse.
