Ok, im going from treatment free to oxalic acid vapor treatment and need opinions!!

[BeeGhost]

After seeing what them red frisbees can do to a strong healthy hive, im going to do my best to help them along with the fight against VM and have decided to go with OAV as my method of treating. I have been searching on youtube and on here as well as good ol' google to find different methods and cost efficiency. I have come up with possibly buying the JB 200 from up in Canada, actually from the Island I lived on for a while as a kid!!

Anyone with any experience with the tool please chime in!! Or if you have heard of something else that might be latest and greatest, let me know!!

I would like to build one, but dont have the mechanical expertise in this area, although some of you have made some great OA vaporizers!!

I plan on carrying a marine battery for the power source and will eventually be treating somewhere in the neighborhood of 20+ hives next year.

Thank you very much for any input you have!!

[Charlie B]

BG, MAQS have been working great for me, very easy to use.

[RAK]

I used a JB this fall and worked great. Kills mites real good. Its built a bit cheapish but it works better than anything sold out there. Queens and brood don't die but mites fall. Three treatments and your good.

[rwurster]

I went from treatment free to oxalic acid and have no complaints. Had my bees 20 feet from another beekeeper's bees while we pollinated melons this summer. His hives were almost over run with varroa. He spends a couple dollars per hive treating, I spend pennies for the same results. I had 8 vapor trays made at a machine shop for cheap. Two car batteries hooked in parallel on a dolly and a solar panel to recharge them, I run 4 vaporizers, makes for almost as fast treatment times as when I help another beekeeper treat hives with apiguard. If you can't build it buy it.

[Mike Gillmore]

I've used both the JB 200 and the Varrox Vaporizers. Both of them will get the job done nicely. If you can save up a few extra bucks the Varrox is worth it. It's sturdier and better constructed.

The marine battery should work fine for you. I use a small garden tractor battery and it gets me through 10-11 colonies and still has a good charge left.

Also, please invest in a good respirator.

[Daniel Y]

I worked at a home made vaporizer this past summer. One design required some Stainless steel fittings. I never did come up with anything I liked. My next attempt will be something that slides into the entrance of the hive. In the end I would probably have saved money and gotten my bees treated better had I just bought a ready made vaporizer. But what fun is there in that.

I did finally manage to get my bees treated using Hooka Coals and small aluminum cups. I did not like the top down path for the vapors though. They want to rise up and I think I would have gotten far more dust on the bees if the vaporizer was at the bottom of the hive.

[stajerc61]

Did you check out the dribble method? No batteries to haul around an hook up, no tools required, no toxic fumes to inhale and more cost effective.

[pascal]

I use the JB200 for 3 years now and it works great for me. I use an old battery from an F150 and I can treat 30 hives before power decrease (time of evaporation is longer).
I carry a bucket of water to cold quickly the evaporator between 2 hives, and also to clean it, some time burr combs falls on it. Unpleasant if the bees are near the bottom board because they treats the evaporator like an intruder and a few of them always burns on it. I'm maybe a bit sensitive but I hate cooking my bees. I carry a smoker and smoke them generously before introducing the evaporator.
The big default is the cheap construction and when you have a lot of hives to do, it sometimes unscrew by itself, you'd better carry some pliers with you. Works wery fine with screen bottom board because it's small enough to go in the tray and there's absolutely no contact with the bees.

[jim lyon]

Did you check out the dribble method? No batteries to haul around an hook up, no tools required, no toxic fumes to inhale and more cost effective.

[camero7]

Problem with the dribble method is that you can only do it once/year and need to wait until the hive is broodless. This means that your winter bees won't be as strong if you have high mite loads. I have used the OA vapor 4X a week apart with no noticeable bee reactions. That being said, I think my OA vapor did not work as well this August/September as it has in the past. No hives lost but several appeared on the verge of collapse when checked in November.

[WWW]

BG, I have found OAV to be very reliable and effective for me these past few years, I started out with a homemade tube design for top of hive application which worked fine but is a slower form of application so this year I purchased the JB 200 Heilyser and have been very pleased with it for speed and ease of use.

My hives are near my house so I have access to electric, I altered a battery charger and use it as a 12 volt power source for the Heilyser, this is the system that I now use which works great.

For those interested in purchasing a replacement glow plug for the JB 200, it can be purchased at your local auto parts supply for $10.00. It is a Bosch part number 80010, but remember that it will need to be altered, the threads will need to be machined off to fit your unit.

[rwurster]

Also, please invest in a good respirator.

Yes, I didn't mention that part, it is an absolute MUST. Also wear clothes that are on their last legs as the acid tends to chew up clothes quite quickly.

If I remember right I went with either an NGK or Bosch self regulating type of glow plug. No clue on the part number, they've lasted long enough to treat 40-50 hives twice.

I didn't do the do the dribble method because by the time my colonies are broodless the daytime temps are rarely over 40 F and night time temps -8 F and I don't want to take chances with wet bees, plus you can't do the treatment very often.

[FlowerPlanter]

I also would not use the dribble method seems to hard on the bees, and you cant dribble when it's cold.
The dribble looks like a pain...to first get the OA to dissolve, then mix the right amout in sugar water then use the right amount per hive then per space between frames...

My Cheap and Simple Oxalic Vaporizor

Take a copper pipe 2' or less 1/2" 3/4 or 1" whatever you can get. Smash one end about an inch flat with a hammer, fold it, smash it again, and fold it again. Test to make sure it is air tight. That's it your done.

I also made a wooden spacer 2" tall with the plexy glass to hold the vaporizer. The top is clear so you can see in the hive-watch the vapor. Remove the lid and outer cover place the spacer on the hive, it seals the top of the hive with just the copper tube sticking out.

Took about 1/2 hour to make.

[sqkcrk]

No!! Don't do it!! Resist going over to the Dark Side!!

I hope it's not too late. Best wishes.

[Lburou]

WRT the battery....Why not use something like this?
It has its own charger and a convenient handle and has multiple uses.
image_11265.jpg

[westernbeekeeper]

For mites, I do food-grade mineral oil fogging. Anyone else do this?

[WWW]

rwurster, I am puzzled as to how your clothes are getting chewed up by the OA , I do not seem to have that problem.

[Belewsboy]

I am a newbee and have no experience with other methods, but I used Formic Acid (not MAQs) and Honeybee Healthy on a fume board. It costs pennies per hive, the whole treatment takes 24 hrs, but the acid dissapates within 3 hours. Very easy, very cheap, very quick. There is a small risk of having your queen balled, but I had no problem with that and it really knocked the mites down. Outdoor temperature must be at least 60 degrees...the warmer, the better. You can read about it here:
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/varroa/
There is also an interesting article about a Honeybee Health drench in such a high concentration, the bees won't take it as a syrup. Supposed to really boost up your bees. I drenched them twice this fall and will repeat early spring. We'll see how good that works this spring.

[sqkcrk]

WRT the battery....

How does one change the title of a Thread w/in the Thread and why is this allowed? Unlike.

[Barry]

Thread title was not changed, post title was. All good now.