What caused my colonies to fail?

[jenkinsbrynmair]

More aware of it in a vet context as it is seen when cats ingest antifreeze

I'm fooked then as there's 1.7g of Oxalic Acid in every 100g of parsley and I bloody love my parsley sauce.

Just thinking I'll have to give up my Saturday evening special of Ham with antifreeze and parsley sauce from now on

 

[user 20297]

I'm fooked then as there's 1.7g of Oxalic Acid in every 100g of parsley and I bloody love my parsley sauce.
Seriously, there's oxalic acid in stuff we've been eating since before the first hairy ape dangled out of a tree to stand on two feet

....and we keep getting reminded that it naturally occurs in honey!!

 

[Boston Bees]

It's not the eating, it's the inhaling in sublimated form.

 

[pargyle]

It's not the eating, it's the inhaling in sublimated form.

You would need to eat your own weight in rhubarb leaves to really damage yourself ... probably be stopped from doing permanent damage by vomiting and the other end ! The problem with inhaling or ingesting the crystalline oxalic acid dihydrate is that it is going to react seriously with the fluid in your lungs and eyes and that's what will do the most damage... ingesting quantity of the stuff into your intestinal tract will have your kidneys working overtime to remove concentrations of the toxin but as Wilco had said ... in trying to do that permanent damage will be done to them...

 

[Do224]

Well, if air can escape it can also enter - unfiltered - and OA is likely to contact eye fluid.

Risk of poisoning is obviously present but as yet unquantifiable; mbc's yacht cleaning comparison is intriguing.

We need a scientist to put this in perspective; until then, best approach with belt & braces.

So do you lot use unvented goggles? All the ones I’ve seen are vented from what I’ve been able to find at Screwfix etc.

 

[madasafish]

I wear glasses . Occasionally I wear goggles on top when vaping. But I take care to keep out of vapour and never had an eye issue. Once has a taste of OA via nose despite mask: horrible.

The crystals you see - the vapour is not vapour as such but very small crystals - are very sharp.. I would imagine in the eyes would result in damage to the surface of the eye.

But then I am using a pan which gives a minute of so before it starts issuing vapour. I also mount my car battery in a wheelbarrow so disconnecting is easy and moving between hives is simplified. I tend to run two pans one after the other which speeds up the waiting times.

If I was using a fan based delivery system I would go for FULL face mask. - but as a hobby beekeeper not worth the money.

 

[ericbeaumont]

FULL face mask. - but as a hobby beekeeper not worth the money.

I agree.

Vaping multiple colonies with an active machine such as the Sublimox - which fires out vapour like a fire extinguisher - increases risk significantly.

A passive tool such as the Varrox - vapour drifts upwards gently - gives you time to move, as MAF described.

For those reasons, I use a full-face JSP respirator with A2 & P3 filters.

 

[user 20297]

I agree.

Vaping multiple colonies with an active machine such as the Sublimox - which fires out vapour like a fire extinguisher - increases risk significantly.

A passive tool such as the Varrox - vapour drifts upwards gently - gives you time to move, as MAF described.

For those reasons, I use a full-face JSP respirator with A2 & P3 filters.View attachment 29913

You need to be careful with those crystals:

 

[ericbeaumont]

You need to be careful with those crystals:

View attachment 29917

He ought to get rid of that beard.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

He ought to get rid of that beard.

it does look rather ridiculous - either grow a proper one or don't bother at all.

 

[ericbeaumont]

proper one or don't bother at all

I've settled for a 5mm trim (which I agree, cannot in truth deserve the title of beard).

Grew the full hedge but it failed to improve my outline, so beardette it is.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I used to trim mine to a number three if I had to go to fire school for a refresher, but that was it.

 

[oliver90owner]

Let’s get a couple, or so, things straightened out.

Oxalic is not caustic - it is acidic. There is plenty of calcium to precipitate it in body fluids. Breathing the stuff will precipitate insoluble trash in your lungs. On top of that it is a strong acid and, as such, will cause burning damage to the lung airways. That is the prime reason for not breathing the stuff in.

Ethylene glycol is a completely different compound. Yes, it is extremely poisonous but not all poisons act in the same way - think here, perhaps, of carbon monoxide poisoning?

Same with eyes - would you put acid in your eyes? It will dissolve and can cause severe burns if in high concentration.

Only dummies ignore the risks as scaremongering. I’m was a chemist originally - analysing all sorts of things - and have used a very wide range of chemicals. All were treated with the care they deserved,

I’ve pumped whole carboys of concentratedc nitric snd hydrochloric acidb by us e of a hand-held electric barrel pump. Not something you do from below the intended receiving vessel! A mixture of those two acids is Aqua Regia and will dissolve gold and other precious metals.

Guidance is provided for everyone to avoid the effects of poisons and other potentially obnoxios chemicals. Follow that guidance implicitly, unless you actually know better - and there are not too many chemists on this forum.

As an edit, I don’t suppose that many on the forum that actually know what a strong acid actually means.

 

[mbc]

Let’s get a couple, or so, things straightened out.

Oxalic is not caustic - it is acidic. There is plenty of calcium to precipitate it in body fluids. Breathing the stuff will precipitate insoluble trash in your lungs. On top of that it is a strong acid and, as such, will cause burning damage to the lung airways. That is the prime reason for not breathing the stuff in.

Ethylene glycol is a completely different compound. Yes, it is extremely poisonous but not all poisons act in the same way - think here, perhaps, of carbon monoxide poisoning?

Same with eyes - would you put acid in your eyes? It will dissolve and can cause severe burns if in high concentration.

Only dummies ignore the risks as scaremongering. I’m was a chemist originally - analysing all sorts of things - and have used a very wide range of chemicals. All were treated with the care they deserved,

I’ve pumped whole carboys of concentratedc nitric snd hydrochloric acidb by us e of a hand-held electric barrel pump. Not something you do from below the intended receiving vessel! A mixture of those two acids is Aqua Regia and will dissolve gold and other precios metals.

Guidance is provided for everyone to avoid the effects of poisons and other potentially obnoxios chemicals. Follow that guidance implicitly, unless you actually know better - and there are not too many chemists on this forum.

As an edit, I don’t suppose that many on the forum know actually know what a strong acid actually means.

Crap chemist then, caustic means it burns, have a wee look in a dictionary if you doubt it oh wise one.

 

[chycarne]

Crap chemist then, caustic means it burns, have a wee look in a dictionary if you doubt it oh wise one.

1: a caustic agent: such as
a: a substance that burns or destroys organic tissue by chemical action
b: a strong corrosive alkali (such as sodium hydroxide)
2: the envelope of rays emanating from a point and reflected or refracted by a curved surface

interesting read though speaking as a Biochemist... i can assure you i would not take chances..... one hive or many hives

 

[Sanntos]

You need to be careful with those crystals:

View attachment 29917

Sometimes beekeeping feels a little like that dangerous illegal business Walter is involved in. The suit, crystals, vaping, Skyler the smart wife and Jesse the helper, and Gus the neighbor

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

someone been at the mushrooms again?

 

[user 20297]

someone been at the mushrooms again?

It all made sense to me.

 

[Do224]

Just an update on this apiary. I met the other beekeeper down there today to vape the remaining colonies. Another of his colonies had perished, so we’ve gone from four hives each to one hive each. We vaped the two remaining hives.

I’m planning to go down and assess the mite drop after 24hrs and 48hrs. I’ll post some pics of the inspection board on this thread.

I’ve no idea what number of mites to expect to see on the board...above what number would be considered indication of a varroa problem?

 

[Sanntos]

...above what number would be considered indication of a varroa problem?

The varroa problem was there in august and september, so therefore there are a varroa problem at present, low mite drop or high mite drop don't matter that much any longer