Varroa Mite Treatment

[Ben Framed]

Just curious, It seems that a lot of folks have been given to the idea of treating vorroa mites with the oxilic acid.  I have watched seceral videos with the fogging type treatment done with various ways of vaporizing the oxalic acid. The one thing that I have noticed that is usually done the same is they treat during daylight hours. My question, wouldn't it up the odds of killing more varroa if this was done at night? When the foragers were all in the box? That way most every bee would be treated, incluging the workers which might (miss out) during daylight treatments?  Thanks, Phillip

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Ben, you posed a good question.

Working bees at night is asking for trouble, but I can see your point.

Consider the vapors of OA are deposited on the comb, inside the hive body,,, everywhere.  When a mite crawls out of a capped cell and make contact with the crystal OA the mite is doomed.  The vaporous of OA with turn to a solid crystal as soon as the vapor touches a cooler object: a bee, wood, wax basically everything that is cooler.  So a returning forager is going to make contact with the crystals of OA upon returning to the hive.

Now Honey is naturally acidic, there should be a bit of repulsive, acids are attracted to bases and Honey is certainly not basic.  However I am sure there is some, very little acid absorbed by the honey.  Consider OA is a natural component of honey, broccoli, spinach and so on.

I do not treat with OA until after I have extracted my honey.  Also I do not know how long OA remains active in the hive.

I hope this answers your questions.
Blessings

[little john]

In the case of VOA - Vapourised (past tense) Oxalic Acid - much of the fine dust produced (which we see as a white cloud - the vapour itself being invisible) will settle on the bees and thus presumably be 'circulated' between them for quite a while after application,  so the time of day when dosing the hive may not be all that critical. 

But, that's a perfectly good and valid question, and indeed one I've considered myself - so when dosing with VOA at times other than in winter (when the ideal conditions are a warmish day to ensure loose clustering - but not so warm that the foragers are flying), I dose between 6 p.m. and loss of light - usually around 9 p.m. in summer, for exactly the reasons you suggest.

One problem with this strategy however is that 3 hours (maximum) doesn't give a whole lot of time for those with Varrox-style applicators (which require cooling-down between doses) and a lot of hives to treat.  However, a new toy has recently come onto the market - the Sublimox - which has been copied and sold in The States as the 'Provap', which are are very fast in operation as they don't require any cooling after each dose.

Like many others working from a BeeSource 'Band Heater' thread, I've made my own 'Sublimox-style' applicator, and can now easily dose 50 hives or so within a 3 hour time window - so yes, this is now my chosen time of day for applying VOA dust when multi-dosing during the season, which I'm doing this year for the first time instead of a single winter dose (which has thus far proved sufficient in my semi-remote location).

Yes, good question.
LJ

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Hey LJ, Good Morning, thanks buddy for the info ?provap? I will check into this.  My queen rearing is going great.  I have established laying patterns from daughters of my alpha queen.  Full deep frames, laid solid, both sides with gentle (so far) bees by the daughters.  Honey production, by daughters, will be known in a few weeks.  So far so good.  I hope your projects are going as well.
Blessings

[Ben Framed]

Thanks you two, van & little John.  I have great respect for each of you and thank you both for your replies.  You can be counted on as giving good sound advice, and this I appreciate!!
Sincerely, Phillip Hall

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Thank you for the kind words, Ben.
Blessings

[NasalSponge]

Provap is scarcely for the hobby beek @ $500, a bit pricey for a dozen hives I would think, but then again one may be able to knock out that few hives in three hours with the other type. The one I have boast it can be cooled with a dip in a bucket of water but since I have only treated in winter I didn't find the need to explore this claim.

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[little john]

Thank you for the kind words, Ben.

Likewise.  Seems I'm running a tad late on this one.   

NasalSponge - strange moniker - must be a story there somewhere ? - yes, they're expensive, hence people are making their own clones for a fraction of the cost: typically 25 GBP (US$ 32 ?).  Perhaps not quite as good as the pukka job, but they work ok. (and are a lot kinder on the wallet)
LJ

[NasalSponge]

The story is not as interesting as one might expect....I was tired of trying to find names to use on the interwebs that did ask me to add numbers after so....nasalsponge was born and I have yet to have to add numbers.

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[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Provap is scarcely for the hobby beek @ $500, a bit pricey for a dozen hives I would think, but then again one may be able to knock out that few hives in three hours with the other type. The one I have boast it can be cooled with a dip in a bucket of water but since I have only treated in winter I didn't find the need to explore this claim.

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Yep, I agree on the price for a hobbyist is a tad bit high,,,, especially considering I already own a varrox.  But good to know such is available.