[snl]

With and all the positive feedback on its use and so many commercial beekeepers using OA in a dribble and others using it in a vaporized, why are YOU not using it?

It's pennies per treatment whether used in a dribble or vaporized (outside the initial cost of the vaporizer). Well below the costs of other treatments.

Again, unless you've remarkable bees that resist both the varroa mite itself and all viruses the mites bring into the hive OR have decided to go the treatment free route,
why are you not using it?

 

[Dominic]

For a lot of americans, it's not a registered pesticide, and thus illegal to use as such. A pity for them, really.

 

[WLC]

Dominic, what's even stranger is that the CHC sent the ABF the required materials for OA registration in the U.S. . But, the ABF never followed through. So, Canada did try to help U.S. beekeepers to use OA for treatments.

"The Canadian Honey Council has provided the American Beekeeping Federation their registration data packet to expedite the registration of OA in the USA. As a result, the recommended concentration of the OA solution that will appear on the US label will most likely be identical to the Canadian label. "

(Aliano, 2009)

 

[snl]

For a lot of americans, it's not a registered pesticide....

Unfortunately it is a registered pesticide NOT an approved mitecide

 

[WLC]

Unfortunately it is a registered pesticide NOT an approved mitecide

Let's face it. It's registered as a toilet cleaner.

 

[snl]

It's registered as a toilet cleaner.

That also happens to be a very effective mitecide that it used worldwide as such.....

 

[EasternIowaBees]

What are the pros and cons of the dribble method vs. vaporizing? Obviously, there is the cost of the vaporizer, but beyond that, what other advantages or disadvantages are there that make one method of application preferable over the other?

 

[Honey-4-All]

With and all the positive feedback on its use and so many commercial beekeepers using OA in a dribble and others using it in a vaporized, why are YOU not using it?

It's pennies per treatment whether used in a dribble or vaporized (outside the initial cost of the vaporizer). Well below the costs of other treatments.

Again, unless you've remarkable bees that resist both the varroa mite itself and all viruses the mites bring into the hive OR have decided to go the treatment free route,
why are you not using it?

Something here smells like a sales pitch. Anyone else getting the same whiff of acid burning I do? OMG.......... my lungs.... I can't breath. SNL responds "Then wear your mask as prescribed....."

 

[Oldtimer]

What are the pros and cons of the dribble method vs. vaporizing? Obviously, there is the cost of the vaporizer, but beyond that, what other advantages or disadvantages are there that make one method of application preferable over the other?

Vaporising is better for the bees, but the dribble method is a whole lot easier for the beekeeper especially if there are a lot of hives involved.

When OA is vaporised into a hive it forms a vapour which distributes through the hive and condenses on everything, bees included. So everything has this fine acidic coating that kills mites, there is nowhere for them to hide, unless they are inside a brood cell. A vapour treatment done right will typically kill mites at a similar level to what Apistan would have to non resistant mites, for around 7 days. After that the kill rate rapidly drops off.

A dribble is different. OA is mixed with water, and only works if there is also sugar in the mix. It is squirted over the combs and gets spread around and also kills mites, however a lot more OA has to be put into a hive than if a vapour was used. Because the mix contains sugar, it is inevitable the bees will store some of it, and consume some of it. This can result in stomach problems for the bees, and if in food fed to brood, can kill larvae soon as they hatch from the egg, hence a winter OA dribble is known to have possible repercussions on spring brood nest development.

The reason a dribble rather than vapour is favoured by most commercial beekeepers, is the simplicity. A large batch can be mixed and a guy simply walks around with any kind of device that can squirt a measured amount of liquid each hive is treated in seconds, where a vapour treatment can be minutes per hive.

 

[enjambres]

So, if using the dribble method (OA + water/sugar syrup) may result in bees ingesting OA with somewhat detrimental effects on their digestion, then what would happen if I use OA vaporization in a hive where I have already placed sugar bricks - or for that matter if the bees have open honey cells that they are in the rpocess of consuming.

Should I take the bricks out beforehand - I can picture the ding-dong food-riot that would cause - but if I could get them out, how would I avoid any OAV-derived crystals from landing on any open honey in the cells? This is still puzzling me.

And as a side query on the OAV topic, does anyone know the gram to volume (in teaspoons or ml) conversion rate for OA? I see the dosing rate quoted in grams, but that's not a convenient range for me to use.

Enj.

 

[Oldtimer]

Pretty certain it would condense onto the sugar bricks & get consumed, yes. Me, I'd temporarily remove them.

Bear in mind, this will happen to any hive with unsealed honey. As an example I once thought it would be a good idea to vaporise some new swarms before they had sealed brood so all the mites would be exposed to it. Sounded like a good idea and it did in fact kill pretty much all the mites. BUT, what also happened was that being new swarms, they were building new comb and filling them with nectar, the whole hive was filled with nectar. The OA went onto it, and for weeks all I could find in those hives was newly laid eggs, soon as they hatched they died. It was literally weeks before the OA concentration in the feed was low enough that they could actually raise some live brood from those eggs, it was a great lesson.

I do OA vaporising it is a wonderful tool, and cheap. But having learned the hard way I'm now very aware of the other factors in the hive before I'll do it.

 

[beekuk]

The reason a dribble rather than vapour is favoured by most commercial beekeepers, is the simplicity. A large batch can be mixed and a guy simply walks around with any kind of device that can squirt a measured amount of liquid each hive is treated in seconds, where a vapour treatment can be minutes per hive.

OT, regards time, it depends on the vaporizing equipment used, the vaporizer i use only takes 25 seconds per treatment, this is continuous from hive to hive, ie no cooling down between hives, no opening of hive, just a small quarter inch hole drilled in the side,and faster than the trickle method.

 

[Oldtimer]

Hmm.. Yes I saw one of those things advertised but out of my price league. Would you mind sharing what you use, cost, etc?

 

[Oldtimer]

Oops, just realised this is a sponsors thread, want to start a different threads on it Beekuk?

 

[Daniel Y]

Something here smells like a sales pitch. Anyone else getting the same whiff of acid burning I do? OMG.......... my lungs.... I can't breath.

Might be a great product that helps kill mites like a sledge hammer but until OA is legal and registered in the US I think anyone who values their personal or business assets is a blame fool to sell anything that promotes or facilitates its use. When a jury is asked to rule in your favor when some nut forgets to put his respirator on when using your machine I sure hope you have a great defense they will believe. $$$ bye bye birdie. You are selling them for the express purpose of acidifying mites aren't you?

Can you show one case where someone was harmed vaporizing OA?

 

[jmgi]

Lets talk about the residue in the hive from doing OA treatments instead of all the happy talk about how well it works. Can anyone answer to that with any degree of certainty?

 

[Oldtimer]

I don't think anyone can, I've seen the subject raised before and nobody could say with any certainty that there were any harmful chemicals left.

For me, all I can say is I use the cheapo "dirty" OA, ie, not medical grade just the stuff used for bleaching timber decks. Probably got a bit of dirt in it, don't know.

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

> does anyone know the gram to volume (in teaspoons or ml) conversion rate for OA?

Randy Oliver has extensive information about using oxalic acid against varroa on his site. The page linked below is regarding the correct proportions for the "dribble" method, but coincidentally offers an oxalic acid grams to teaspoon conversion:

Discarding the outlier (spoon was probably not leveled off) the average value is 3.7g oxalic acid per teaspoon.

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/oxalic-acid-treatment-table/

 

[snl]

....residue in the hive from doing OA treatments.......Can anyone answer to that with any degree of certainty?

"If oxalic acid is used properly, there is absolutely no risk of problems with the honey."

From.....
Anton Imdorf1 and Eva Rademacher2 European Working Group for Integrated Varroa Control 1 Agroscope Liebefeld-Posieux, SwissBee Research Center, CH-3003 Bern 2 Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biologie/Neurobiologie, Königin-Luise-Strasse 28-30, DE-14159 Berlin

 

[Dominic]

Lets talk about the residue in the hive from doing OA treatments instead of all the happy talk about how well it works. Can anyone answer to that with any degree of certainty?

The studies I saw showed that OA did result in some bee mortality. As for residues, OA and FA treatments both increased levels of their respective substances in honey of a treated super, but not dangerously so. OA more than FA, I believe.

Personally, I'd like to know the effect of OA on drones, which I have yet to see, and on uncapped larvae. Seems every treatment there is, both natural and synthethic, damage drone fertility, though I've yet to hear about the effects of OA on them, presumable because it is usually applied when they don't matter anymore, despite it appearing as an interesting product to use in combination with brood breaks in-season.