What is the best OA vaporiser?

[user 20297]

Opinions welcome.
One of the reasons I have put off adopting vaping as my primary method of varroa treatment is that most of the applicators look a bit Heath-Robinson and that the apparently, better designed ones are significantly more expensive, whilst presumably doing the same job.
Bearing in mind that I use polyhives and have ten colonies, I would appreciate it if anyone could take the time to show images, give recommendations or argue with each other over the relative merits of different applicators.

 

[blackcloud]

Prepare for a big row!
Cheap ones £15 eBay /£30 bee suppliers are disposable
You also have do factor in power supply I had the choice of lugging a car battery around or get a mains one and buy a generator ( or a 500 yard long extension lead...)
After messing about a lot I bought a gas vap which is completely self sufficient.
Its needed a bit of 'further product development' but now I've mastered its use I wouldn't be without it.

 

[drex]

Mine cost £30 off ebay. Battery driven , pan on end of stick type. Still good after 10 years. I use it with an adapted crown board

 

[Skinfaxi]

Depends on the amount of colonies and your time. Pan types need to cool between uses . I winter i just stick it in cold shingle on drive way to cool quicker. But can refill about 5min to 10min after a vape.

 

[pargyle]

Gasvap works well for a few hives ... looks a bit like it's been cobbled together by a plumber but it does the job, relatively cheaply and very effectively in terms of sublimation of the OA.

I found with poly hives best to vape from the top.

 

[Skinfaxi]

I have used a empty smoker sometimes to blow the vape around the hive more as i am vaping at the entrance. Or i move the wand around slowly under the frames to get a better spread.

 

[pargyle]

I also make hardwood caps to go on the 'cap' as it gets very hot in use and you either need a pair of welders gloves or asbestos fingers.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Pan types need to cool between uses . I winter i just stick it in cold shingle on drive way to cool quicker. But can refill about 5min to 10min after a vape.

a couple of seconds in a bucket of water sorts that

 

[silentscyther]

LOROB BEES OXALIC ACID VAPORIZER The knowledgeable American Frederick Dunn just did a post about this product on YouTube It’s expensive and needs electricity but it looks well made and well designed. Is there such a thing in the UK? It has a pipe to deliver the gas through a quarter inch hole drilled in back of hive, and keeps the hot element away from the bees.

 

[ericbeaumont]

presumably doing the same job.

Not so: the cheap delivers passively, in which the vapour drifts up into the box; the expensive delivers like a fire extinguisher and is far more effective, esp. on double brood colonies.

 

[silentscyther]

Not so: the cheap delivers passively, in which the vapour drifts up into the box; the expensive delivers like a fire extinguisher and is far more effective, esp. on double brood colonies.

Frederick Dunn said bees fan it into every crevice

 

[blackcloud]

Vaping through the top negates need for pressurised delivery and in cold weather allows the charge to sink down through the box rather than down through the floor mesh if you're administering through entrances.

I've mastered a method and with a dozen homemade gasvap cups and a perspex topped eke I can make short shrift of an application.

Whatever suits the individual - do whatever but do something

 

[DocMartin]

Any chance of any details for the hardwood covers, homemade gas vap cups and Perspex eke. Are the cups standard plumbing fittings? Also I believe you need a decent mask with specialist filter. Would these be available from the likes of Screwfix?

 

[ericbeaumont]

It’s expensive and needs electricity but it looks well made and well designed. Is there such a thing in the UK?

Yes, the Sublimox looks more or less the same, though naturally double the price.

Frederick Dunn said bees fan it into every crevice

Which type of machine did he mean? No need with the Sublimox/Loro type.

 

[ericbeaumont]

decent mask with specialist filter.

Yes.

The grade of filter recommended by Sublimox is A2P3, where A refers to organic gases and vapours and P to particulates; filters are graded 1-3.

A2 is a medium organic gas & vapour filter, and P3 a high efficiency particle filter. Page 45 of this HSE doc defines the classes of filtration; eyes should be protected from OA vapour because liquid will absorb OA.

When OA vaping started a few years ago it was common to find beekeepers with no protection hoping for the best by standing downwind of the vapour, which of course, is entirely mad.

 

[blackcloud]

The eke is a plywood 460square with a piece of perspex sealed and screwed to the top.Self adhesive
Draught excluder foam where it sits on the BB
The cups are standard 22mm end feed stopends centre-punched to a stump of 22 mm copper pipe.
The right filter is essential if you insist on inhaling the vapour but being judicious with your breath-timing will allow you to survive with less investment in the real world.
Three you go -diy advice and heresy all in one post

 

[DocMartin]

Heresy and the correct mask are perhaps the way forward for me. Thanks for the reply

 

[holmbee]

Laurence at Black Mountain Honey has a good u-tube video about gas masks. Worth a look IMO.

 

[Skinfaxi]

Please remember that you are applying agri protection products.
You need to see cosshh regulations PPE regulations and other pesticide regs in in uk. It seems strange the law in uk. Some must have a pesticide license and are under the full threat of the law. Then regular joe can do as they please spray a bit here and a bit their. Then years later you notice little lump growing or brain going mad. Use a full face mash with correct filters. Look on safety supply company they cost about €70. I used to wear mine to the shops aswell.

 

[blackcloud]

Don't eat walnuts apples or chocolates either- you will sprout antennae