Liquid Nitrogen

[Wildeman]

Anyone know how to get hands on liquid nitrogen
thanks
Devlin

[KPeacock]

I've purcahsed it at a welding supply shop before.

I'll bet praxair, or airgas could direct you to a local supplier

[Benthic]

Agreed. Both of my local gas suppliers (Airgas & Wesco) have liquid oxygen. I haven't asked about liquid nitrogen, but if I were looking for it they would be the first people I'd call.

Brian

[cg3]

Our welding supply can get it, but you have to supply your own dewar (thermos).

[KPeacock]

Our welding supply can get it, but you have to supply your own dewar (thermos).

Yup, I forgot about that part. I did have to bring my own dewar. I got mine off of ebay for something like 60 or 70 bucks.

[scoots40]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is this used for? I would guess small hive beetles, wax moths, possibly mites, but I have never heard of this treatment. Seems an interesting option.

[Rader Sidetrack]

> Sorry for my ignorance, but what is this used for?

Search is your friend! The thread below is illustrated, too

http://www.beesource.com/forums/show...ts-on-breeders

[cg3]

Well, I used it for making ice cream.

[Nature Coast beek]

@scoots40

Used for brood kill to test hive for hygienic trait.

[KPeacock]

I used it for quenching steel coming out of the forge. Some steels (52100 and 5160 particularly) respond well to very deep quenches and then tempering cycles. it wouldn;t have anything to do with beekeeping unless you wanted a very robust hive tool The stuff is incredibly cold , below -320deg F, so it will freeze most stuff pretty dang quick.

[Alyeska]

Its also extreamly dangerious. Spill a litle of it on you, and you might be loosing a limb, or worse. Yes, its very usefull stuff, but, its also extreamly dangerious. No, I can't repeat that enough, its that dangerious. Err, its also used in cryo freezing things, including humans. Some studys have been done on freezing bees, and, actualy, be interesting to see if the fed has any good queens frozen and stored somewhere.

[gmcharlie]

I used it for quenching steel coming out of the forge. Some steels (52100 and 5160 particularly) respond well to very deep quenches and then tempering cycles. it wouldn;t have anything to do with beekeeping unless you wanted a very robust hive tool The stuff is incredibly cold , below -320deg F, so it will freeze most stuff pretty dang quick.

Never used it on hot steel?? (oil or sodioum only) how does it react?

[Aerindel]

Its actually very hard to hurt yourself with it. Back when I was in school we had a teacher who would pour it over volunteers hands as a demonstration. It has such a low boiling point that it flashes into nitrogen gas on contact with something as hot as skin and insulates itself from your skin. You have to immerse your hand into a body of it for some time to actually freeze yourself.

Whats more dangerous is the substances that have been chilled with it. A metal tool for instances chilled to liquid nitrogen temps will instantly cause frostbite on contact since there is no liquid to boil into a protective gas.

[rainesridgefarm]

We use it a lot to freeze brood to test them for hygenic traits. I started using it with gloves and safty glasses but now I just pour it in the can and put the frame back in the hive

[Blackwater Bees]

Its actually very hard to hurt yourself with it. Back when I was in school we had a teacher who would pour it over volunteers hands as a demonstration. It has such a low boiling point that it flashes into nitrogen gas on contact with something as hot as skin and insulates itself from your skin. You have to immerse your hand into a body of it for some time to actually freeze yourself.

Tell that to the people who I burn skin lesions off of with it. I feels like a hot coal on your skin, and the spot dies and falls out in a couple of weeks. Please don't play with it at home.

[Sharpbees]

If your going to do a hygienic test where you kill the brood take a can of compressed air, the type used for cleaning keyboards, turn it upside down and spray the desired area for a few seconds. Don't get your hand in the spray or you'll get a freeze burn.

[O'Quinn]

Sharpbees,

Have you tried this? I used dry ice and did not get a complete brood kill. Liquid nitrogen is the only thing that I have used that is cold enough to consistently get the job done. The brood itself has to chill and die to get a true test.

O'Quinn

[Michael Bush]

I get mine at the local welding place. Shop around for a dewar. Some are VERY expensive, but you can find some bargains too.

[Sharpbees]

It worked for me but I've only tried it once. I wasn't killing as large an large area though.

[dnichols]

I think Aerindel was referring to the Leidenfrost effect. You can actually immerse your hand into liquid nitrogen BRIEFLY with no ill effects. Because of the low boiling point of LN there is a barrier of Nitrogen gas that protects the hand momentarily as the warmth of your hand boils the LN. I teach this concept to my physics students. Would I recommend the practice. NO! But it is a cool physics principal. Key words here guys! Briefly and momentarily. There will be a quiz on this tomorrow.