data point on Heilyser OA vaporizer

[Ben Brewcat]

I used my Heilyser OA vaporizer one time only, one year ago, and my queen failed immediately afterwards. Hadn't used it since. So my mite counts are climbing slowly, and OA was on deck. I got out my triple-beam and measured how much OA a scoop actually was (there's a little copper measuring scoop that came with it). A scoop ranged from 2 to 2.5 grams, way over the gram I recall the instructions said. I may have really OD'd the poor queen last time :(.

So I vaporized one gram per hive (each was a double deep) to be conservative and will check soon to see who's still laying. What dosage have other folks found to balance safety with efficacy when vaporizing OA?

[drobbins]

I've used mine about 30 times and never had a problem
I use the scoop that comes with it
where did you get your OA and why are you using it this time of year?
you're supposed to use it when the bees are broodless

Dave

[Michael Palmer]

>I used my Heilyser OA vaporizer one time only, one year ago, and my queen failed immediately afterwards.<

I've used the Heilyser vaproizer for three years. I've used it in November, when the bees are nearly broodless, and I've used it in September, when the hive was full of brood.

Heinz told me to vaporizr 3 times, seven days apart...this in a colony with brood. I pulled frames, first, and marked combs with eggs, eggs and young larvae, older larvae, and sealed brood. I vaporized as suggested. 3 times, seven days apart. I waited a week after the final treatment, and checked the brood frames I had marked. I could see no damage to the brood.

I've performed thousands of treatments with OAv, and have seen no problems with queens.

I also don't think the OAv with the Heilyser vaporizer works very well at controlling varroa. Not sure why.

Might be that my colonies aren't broodless in mid-November, when I treat. Also...could be that the clusters are too tight to allow the vapors to penetrate. I've alse noticed that the bottom of the frames are burned, and have a big white spot of OA...I see this the following spring when I reverse my brood chambers. I wonder if the vaporizer is burning the bottom bar, and leaving a large deposit of OA, how much is getting where it is needed.