Sourcing Oxalic Acid Crystals

[E&MBees]

Considering purchasing a oxalic acid vapouriser.

Do I have to source the oxalic acid crystals from a beekeeping supplier or can I buy from a DIY store? Places such as Screwfix sell the crystals. Is there a chemical standard that needs to be adhered to if using on bees?

Thanks

 

[domino]

I buy it from ebay, keeps my hives very clean.

 

[Apiarisnt]

Oxalic acid usage

If you are using the oxalic acid for cleaning the wood of your hives then ebay is the best source.

If you are using oxalic acid as a treatment for the bees, then by law you must only use a Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) approved product, such as Api-Bioxal, which you will find to be several orders of magnitude more expensive, gramme for gramme, and only available cut with glucose, which will clog up your vapouriser. By law you must also keep records of the batch numbers used for each application for at least five years. The penalties for using an unregistered product are onerous.

However detecting treatment oxalic acid in honey is somewhat difficult as it is a naturally occurring substance.

I never cease to be surprised how many members of this forum find it useful to have some ebay sourced oxaclic acid just in case their hives need cleaning...

 

[domino]

I never cease to be surprised how many members of this forum find it useful to have some eBay sourced oxaclic acid just in case their hives need cleaning...

It's great that you can clean your hives with the bees still in them, makes hive cleaning so easy.

 

[Millet]

I get mine from Ebay in 1kg batches...but I make sure the stuff I get is 99.6%.

 

[E&MBees]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[HughMann]

Does it last long once opened?

 

[Apple]

Does it last long once opened?

Keep in original sealed container under lock and key in a safe place, will absorb water and go rock solid if the containers content is left exposed to moist air.
Ikg should last for some time if you have just a couple of colonies of frames to clean.
2g per vaporisation.... 500 shots.. should last a few seasons!
Chons da

 

[Newbeeneil]

I've got some OA ( for cleaning purposes of course) which has absorbed a little water over the years. It seems to still work ok as a side effect of the cleaning is Varroa landing on the board but are effects reduced by using damp crystals??

 

[drex]

I've got some OA ( for cleaning purposes of course) which has absorbed a little water over the years. It seems to still work ok as a side effect of the cleaning is Varroa landing on the board but are effects reduced by using damp crystals??

I very much doubt it, but I am no chemist. Most OA comes as the dihydrate, which means for every molecule of OA there are attached two water molecules already. Might just take a bit longer to all sublimate.

 

[Angry_Mob]

When sublimating it does seem to have a detrimental effect, when damp the OA sticks to the caps and eventually seems to harden over so they need cleaned out.

I left the OA nearby a dehumidifier and noticed a definite improvement on next usage..