BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > DISEASE & PEST CONTROL

Did my First OAV Treatment Today

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Beeboy01:
Well I took the plunge and over the last few week or so I picked up all the parts to build a vaporizer. I went high tech and incorporated a thermal 350 degree shutoff switch and indicator light just because it seemed like a good idea. Just got it done and it seems like just in time.
  I've been monitoring the mite drop on my hives and over the last week or so hive #3 has shown a sudden increase in mites. I checked today and after only 24 hours the hive showed a count of 6 live mites crawling around on the bottom tray along with another 6 or 8 dead ones.
After a test run just to make sure the vaporizer works I treated all five of my hives hitting #3 first. I guess it is working, after only six hours the mite drop for #3 is already over two dozen.
  Would it be worth treating #3 a second time in the middle of the week or should I just stay with the recommended weekly treatment for three weeks which is how I'm planning to treat the rest of the yard. Just trying not to make any mistakes that have already been done.
  I'll try to post a couple pictures of my DIY vaporizer when I get a chance.
 

beepro:
I've read that study been done, after the oav treatment under a microscope the bee scientist can see the
tiny holes burned into the bee's exoskeleton.   The result is a shorten lifespan bee.   I will never use oav again otherwise I
would use my homemade oav invention under the hive to burn it in.  Now I use an IPM method to remove the mites entirely.
Because some mites are still inside the cap broods, if not done right according to the timing of newly emerged bees with the
attaching mites on, the entire hive may crash over this winter.    There are some who miss the timing of treatment resulted in a
dead out.   Time it out!

Beeboy01:
Since OAV has been used in Europe for years although I understand your concern I don't think it is as big of a concern as you think it is. I was a treatment free beekeeper for years with a yard of 4 or 5 hives but had a major kill from both mites and SHB's which made me decide to go back to treating as needed. OAV has been shown to be one of the more effective and least harmful mite treatments currently approved which is why I have gone that route.  Thanks for your comments on performing a brood break but currently it is not part of my management plans.
  I'll follow the standard procedure for OAV and hit the hives weekly for three weeks.
 As an edit, It seems that Integrated Pest Management or IPM has gone by the wayside over the last few years. Instead single pest management  practices have become predominate. I've seen it in the local club which is pushing heat treatment but doesn't mention OAV and on different sites that push the flavor of the month. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong but there appears to be a wide enough selection of treatment options which could be combined  as IPM  for almost total mite control and elimination.
  Beepro, you mentioned potential damage to the exoskeleton of the bees due to OAV treatments and advocate brood breaks instead. I didn't know that it was a potential problem but which would be more harmful for the hive, the loss of two weeks of brood production or the loss of a few bees due to exposure to OAV?

beepro:
I'm talking about the timing of using oav.  It has nothing to do with the loss of 2 weeks of brood production or the number of bees loss due to the oav treatment. Using oav should not stop the queen from laying.  As for how many young bees will be burn by the acid I cannot count them yet.

If the timing is right then at each bee emergence cycle the mites will be exposed.  If you treat while majority of the mites are still inside the cap broods then the mites will still be there after the 3 weeks of treatment.  So you must time it right.  I'm not against any form of chemical treatment.  Beekeepers can do whatever they want to care for their bees.  I've also seen using regressed cells and mite biting/mauling bees that can resist the mites.  So far I've found 3 different sources with such bees.  Their queens are a lot different than the ones I raised here.  Smaller and more compact queens.

While using oav will not crash the hives completely it will exposed the newly emerged bees to the acid.  And we all know that acids will burn.  This will shorten the bee's life. During the Autumn as opposed to the Spring hive expansion, the bees will contract their brood nest ready for the coming winter.  If there aren't enough young bees to carry the hives over then next Spring you might not have anymore bees left.  If the oav treatment is not done correctly then the mites are still there on the following Spring. 
So whatever you do make sure to time it right. 

Beeboy01:
Beepro, thanks for the clarification, I'll keep it in mind as I develop a long range treatment plan and try to work a brood break into my schedule. As I said before I'm transitioning from treatment free which worked till I got hit with SHB bombs one summer and lost all my mite resistant stock. After that the the bees I purchased from local commercial operators didn't seem to have the mite resistance I was used to and my old style of beekeeping just didn't work any more. I had to use Apivar last fall as a emergency measure but realized there are better treatment options out there which is why I've gone with OAV.
  So far hive #3 was the only one with any significant pre treatment mite drop, 14 in a 24 hour period with 6 of them alive. The post treatment drop so far has been 165 after 24 hours and another 100 after 48 hours for #3. The rest of the hives are only showing 10 to 20 mites after 48 hours so it appears #3 has a problem and needs monitoring after the course of treatments.  I'll keep posting results of my treatment so others can follow if it was successful or not. 

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