Oxalic Vaporization 500 mites to zero

[john t]

This is an account of my first attempt at vaporisation with oxalic acid crystals ,
i had been keeping bees for many years but had a break for about 10 ,before I took my break varroa hadn’t been around that long and I had only treated colony’s with bayvrol strips so vaporisation is completely new to me,
back in October I was given a weak colony of bees which I suspected were heavily infected with the varroa mite, I realised my main focus was to get them through the winter so I initially gave them some sugar syrup and then a block of candy which is sitting on the top to the queen excluder and covered over with a quilt inside an empty super,so just an occasional check to make sure they have enough stores is all the disturbance they will get until spring,
The varroa treatment:- the hive has an open mesh floor with a removable pull out board which will catch the dead fallen mites, I do not grease the board in any way, all I do is remove this board and scrape what is laying on it into a container, I then add a tiny quantity maybe a tablespoon of 90% alcohol just enough to separate the debris , I then count the mites and record my findings.
My plan was to count the fallen mites every day that I could, work permitting, I started counting before I did the first vaporisation so that I could get an understanding to how big the infestation was and if the vaporisation was having any effect and was recording 80 to 40 mites per day.
The equipment is a vapomite from Thornes costing £35 and some oxalic acid crystals and a 12 v lawnmower battery, a teaspoon of crystals is placed into the vapomite pan and positioned under the open mesh floor, gaps are sealed as well as the entrance with tape, standing well back the vapomite is connected to the battery and after a short time vapour can be seen coming out of the gaps in the hive ,nothing too alarming, after 3 minutes I disconnect the battery , wait a further 5 minutes then I remove the vapomite and the tape from the entrance -job done, every time I did the vape it was a cold winters morning with no flying bees,
As I mentioned earlier I have tried to do a mite drop count every day that I could , I did three vaporisations in total ,the dates of the vaporisations were not calculated it was just convenient at the time but as it was late December im not expecting there to be a lot of brood although I have noticed a few dead grubs at the hive entrance after the 3rd vape, it is now late January 2018 , an occasional peek into the top of the hive, lifting the quilt the bees seem to be doing well .
Here are the results with the date and mite count
28/11/1=85 29 /11/17=34
5/12/17 Oxalic vaporisation
6/12/17=100 12/12/17=500 13/12/17=30 14/12/17=11 15/12/17=24 16/12/17=18
17/12/17=24 21/12/17=45
21/12/17 Oxalic vaporisation
22/12/17=44 23/12/17=30 03/01/18=50 04/01/18=3 05/01/18=4
05/01/18 Oxalic vaporisation
06/01/18=1 07/01/18=4 08/01/18=2 10/01/18=2 12/01/18=1 20/01/18=0
26/01/18=0
Although for the last week I have not had any mites to count it may be a little early to say there are no varroa mites but I will continue to monitor,

 

[For want of a better word]

Well done... vape colony again in the Spring!!

Yeghes da

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Mite-counters of the world unite! Well done for going to the trouble of doing the daily counts and thanks for publishing the results. I used an oxalic-based product three times in December but kept them 5 days apart - if you look at the life cycle of the mite combined with worker brood, you'll see that 5 days is about optimum.

I would caution you against stating in a public forum that you are vaping Oxalic Acid. Api-Bioxal is the only Oxalic Acid-based product that is approved for use in treating for Varroa destructor. Walls have ears, you know!

CVB

 

[john t]

thanks for the heads up, hadn't realized oxalic wasnt approved, i guess ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law,im sure there is a good reason for needing approved products when food production is involved although i wont be taking any honey this year further reading is required although the good thing about this forum is the wealth of knowledge

has anyone done or know of a comparison test between the approved product and the oxalic crystals, im just pleased the varroa count is down

just looked on the thornes site, the vapomite is selling for £5 refurbished, how can they sell them for that price ?

 

[Beefriendly]

has anyone done or know of a comparison test between the approved product and the oxalic crystals[/QUOTE

One gums up your vaporiser with all the non essential additives, one doesn't.
Both have the same effect if used at the same dose.

 

[fatshark]

has anyone done or know of a comparison test between the approved product and the oxalic crystals[/QUOTE

One gums up your vaporiser with all the non essential additives, one doesn't.
Both have the same effect if used at the same dose.

One empties your wallet faster ...

 

[For want of a better word]

One empties your wallet faster ...

Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb!!!!


Nos da

 

[john t]

update, it has been about 10 days since i did my last varroa count

5/02/2018 i only counted 1 dead mite, this method seems to have worked well and hopefully as this is my only hive it will be in best of health as spring approaches also lifted the quilt to make sure they have enough fondant,

 

[john t]

another update,
i removed the inspection board last week 28/3/18 and did a mite count, none could be found, lots of activity and signs of stores being consumed,

im pleased with the result so far , as i dont think this hive has been inspected for several years and the initial daily mite drop was very high, im hoping to inspect and transfer them to a new hive this weekend

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well done and as CVB has said..... welcome to the world of mite counters
CVB and I ( along with others I suspect, looking at winter losses) had a problem hive each and we both counted mites for a long time. Mine dropped thousands but is still here albeit now moved into a poly nuc and considerably smaller than the others

 

[Beefriendly]

Mine dropped thousands but is still here albeit now moved into a poly nuc and considerably smaller than the others

Interesting because I lost my autumn problem hive; well a cupful of bees left. Now in a 3 frame Nuc. I don't give them much chance.
It's difficult to assess whether the prolonged exposure to varroa or the prolonged vaping is the culprit.

 

[fatshark]

another update,
i removed the inspection board last week 28/3/18 and did a mite count, none could be found, lots of activity and signs of stores being consumed,

im pleased with the result so far , as i dont think this hive has been inspected for several years and the initial daily mite drop was very high, im hoping to inspect and transfer them to a new hive this weekend

Remember ... at this time of the year there should be more and more brood being raised, so brood should exceed mites. That being the case there remains ample opportunity for them to 'hide'. I'm not sure anyone has really calculated the likely drop with the presence of absence of lots or little brood, but it would be an interesting mathematical exercise. The mites still need their few days phoretic for max fitness, but does the mite determine this or the availability of open brood.

This isn't meant to be discouraging ... just some thoughts

 

[Erichalfbee]

Interesting because I lost my autumn problem hive; well a cupful of bees left. Now in a 3 frame Nuc. I don't give them much chance.
It's difficult to assess whether the prolonged exposure to varroa or the prolonged vaping is the culprit.

Mine are still there and queen laying ....a 3inch diameter patch of brood on four sides of three frames They have been bringing in pollen. They are snug in a five frame nuc.
My bet is on varroa....
On one frame away from the brood nest I found this

 

[Beefriendly]

Very similar, there was half a frame of "chilled" brood that she had laid. No idea if she is still laying in the Nuc.
But the similarities are uncanny.
Possibly varroa/viral load shortening the lifespan of the winter bees is my current thinking.

 

[Swarm]

 

[Erichalfbee]

The others are good though.

 

[Beefriendly]

Ditto, 1 out of 16.
They are just desperately needing pollen....so feeding substitute.

 

[Swarm]

Best to let them go?

 

[Beefriendly]

Let what go where Steve?

 

[john t]

i did my first inspection of this hive yesterday i suspect it has been neglected for a few years and this was the first time i looked in to it since acquiring it in October
i was surprised to find all frames crammed with stored and very little brood if any at all, there were quite a few drones which i suspect had come from comb built under a super frame that had been put in place at one end, i found the queen unmarked she was amazingly calm and hardly moved and i did find a few eggs so there may be hope yet,,
anyway i transferred all the frames into a new brood box with omf and roof and replaced 4 frames with foundation to give them something to do and hopefully room to lay, i left the half consumed block of fondant on the crown board and also a half pint of syrup hoping to encourage them to draw the new foundation out and if i get time will check them in a week or so

i have a question regarding omf , do you ppl overwinter with the inspection board in or out, the reason i ask was mine has been in place over winter but a few of the end frames seem to be sweating