Will you be trickle feeding Oxalic Acid over the 2010/11 Winter period?

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Will you be trickle feeding Oxalic Acid over the 2010/11 Winter period?

  • Yes

    Votes: 113 57.4%
  • No

    Votes: 59 29.9%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 25 12.7%

  • Total voters
    197

jezd

Drone Bee
Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
1,540
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Location
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Hive Type
Other
Number of Hives
299.1
Its a simple poll that I know admin has mentioned, me too, will you be trickle feeding Oxalic Acid over the 2010/11 Winter period?

I get the feeling there is a trend away from this, or maybe its just me :)

JD
 
I replied 'maybe' because of my circumstances this year. I would, if deemed necessary, but actually prefer not to have to treat with oxalic.

Regards, RAB
 
Same here Poly, plus last years hive opening up did more damage than good for me.
 
I've been told we are doing. Maybe when I have more experience of monitoring drops, and when they are my own bees, I may reconsider doing it as a matter of course. My mentor knows his onions, and he knows his bees too :p so I would tend to go with his advice all the way......but I'm sure that one day I will end up doing something my own way.
 
Kaz,do you expect to get your own bees in the spring ?
I think you are more than capable of managing a hive of your own.

I am sure a few members can chip in with some timber bits and a nuc of bees for you if things are tight.
 
Kaz,do you expect to get your own bees in the spring ?
I think you are more than capable of managing a hive of your own.

I am sure a few members can chip in with some timber bits and a nuc of bees for you if things are tight.

I don't think so, not yet anyway. I've nowhere to put them and I've only got experience of the building up for winter bit.......I want to experience the swarming season and how to manage it before I get my own cloud of bees buzzing angrily around my head. Fingers crossed for next autumn though, might get my own little bunch to build up for winter...depending on how I fare with the busy part of the year.

Thanks for the vote of confidence though. I dealt with fizzing bees the other day ( after the creosote incident ) Everyone has been very encouraging, even though i still make a lot of bawling noises before I enter the hive :p
 
Hi all

I will use O/A, but only on one hive that had a very high drop

John D
 
I will not be using it, not a good result in the spring.

John
 
I will certainly be doing it. All the evidence from trials and experience in other countries is it does no harm (when carried out at the correct time of year) and can only do good by killing mites. Varroa still remains the number 1 threat to honey bees in the UK. The bee farmer I know in Finland has about 3000 colonies and treats them all with OA syrup. His crop this year after a dry summer was 70,000 kg, achieved without any migratory beekeeping.

Apart from starvation, bees dying in winter can be because of viruses introduced by varroa.
 
No.

Not easy in a TBH...
 
Definatley yes, I find all my Oxalic treated hives come through the winter better and kick on in the spring quicker than those i didn't treat one year, so all will be getting a dose regardless of late season mite drop.

C B
 
Yes. I will be treating all my colonies to try and get on top of a wide range of infestation. Over a 5 week Apiguard treatment my smallest drop was 170, the worst was 8500:redface: - and it is still dropping 200+/day:banghead:
 
Yes. I will be treating all my colonies to try and get on top of a wide range of infestation. Over a 5 week Apiguard treatment my smallest drop was 170, the worst was 8500:redface: - and it is still dropping 200+/day:banghead:

You must have needed a double brood to fit all the mites in- I'm amazed there was any room for bees! :ack2:

Mine seem to be dropping about 50-70/ day now on apistan, so I think I've taken the edge off it- but I think I'm going to have to be brave and OA
 
very suprised with these numbers, almost 70% applying OA

hope you all get the mixture right! :)
 
Never used it last winter,not using it this winter,nor ever again,after giving it a fair trial in my view.
 
Been using OA trickle treatment for last 3 years on around 100 hives p.a.
No apparent harm to the bees, winter losses around 10%, down from 30% and 50% the 2 previous seasons. Usually wait for a cold spell Dec /Jan , then treat first thing on a cold morning when bees clustered. If a prolonged cold spell is forecast then I wait for as long as possible and hope the colony goes broodless then more effective treatment is achieved. One year I even treated at night with a head lamp. I use acid at about 4.5% strength as here in South Devon spring comes early. Cheap and effective.
 
Definately using as I have done since I started keeping bees not done any harm so far.
 
I think a lot of us new beeks were shocked and a little frightened by the strength of feeling about using this method, but after reading many posts, and chatting to beeks I respect, it seems oxalic isn't as bad as it seemed initially.

As i said though, I will do as my mentor tells me and when I become a full time parent I will see how I feel then and what my experiences are.
 

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