Did my First OAV Treatment Today

[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. 

[Beeboy01]

72 hour update on hive #3 - 150 mites counted on the sticky board. The other 3 treated hives have only eight to ten mites at 72 hours.

[beepro]

There is only one apiary that I know of that claimed their bees can kill the mites and handle the SHB also.  On you tube vids I've
seen one bee carried the SHB off its hive.  So both the mites resistant and SHB carrying bees are out there.  Maybe it is time that you do some research to
find those bees.   I would if I'm in your situation.  For now do what you can to ensure their survival.  Next Spring you can requeen if you can find better bees to
keep. 

[Beeboy01]

I'm sticking with the OAV treatment right now I'm getting a good mite kill with only one treatment and will follow through with the recommended two more treatments and then treat again come early spring. If I need to perform a second OAV on #3 hive this fall I will. I also have access to a thermal mite killer which is supposed to be cutting edge for mite and SHB control. I'm not interested in returning to treatment free at this time and will work with what genetics I already have in my yard, re-queening is not in my long term plan unless AHB genes show up.  I've never had any luck with mail order queens and have found a lot of the breeder claims to be exaggerated.
 
 Beepro, I've identified a mite problem with one hive and have taken accepted corrective action which is working according to the mite kill I've seen. I'm not in panic mode about the mites or worried about "My Situation" I was just asking advice about OAV use.

 I'll continue to post the mite kill from #3 for the duration of the treatment plan.

[beepro]

Very well, carry on!

[Beeboy01]

Going to daily counts, mite drop from # 3 after 4 days was 130 mites. all the other hives are still at below 10 per day. Will #3 retreat Saturday.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Beeboy, good for you, take care of the bees.  You will notice mite drop for over a week.  Your bees will be more healthy, have a better spring build up.  I talk from personal experience, but there is so much research, bonafied research by impressive scientists.  I read an article, 18 pages, detailed studies covering 18 months and took into account the tiniest details to provide an accurate assessment of OAV.  If you want the article I can post the title.  But consider there are many, very many articles covering the benefits of OAV.

Just a note, I have full respect and admiration for those that do not treat.  I take a different path and treat.  Treating or not treating both camps wish/want the best for the bees.  Blessings to the beekeepers.

[Beeboy01]

Day 5 mite drop is 110 for hive #3. Some of the bees in my other hives have decided to gather under the SBB and are cleaning off the tray which pretty much makes any accurate count impossible. I'll keep monitoring and posting info on hive 3.
  I'm surprised that a 24 hour count pre treatment of only 14 mites is showing such a heavy infestation in #3.  Mite drop so far is at 655 for a strong double deep and hasn't slowed down yet. Guessing at 30,000 bees per deep the total population would be at 60K and with just the mite drop numbers the hive is already over a 1% infection rate. 
  Van, thanks for the attaboy, I've done extensive reading on OAV and varroa mites along with digesting graphs and treatment methods but haven't found much info on the actual mite drops after treatment which is why I'm posting the numbers on hive 3. I'm hoping the actual numbers can help someone understand what is happening after a OAV treatment. 
  Definitely going to retreat this weekend since the daily drop is still high and continue posting the sticky board count through the course of the treatments.
 

[Ben Framed]

Day 5 mite drop is 110 for hive #3. Some of the bees in my other hives have decided to gather under the SBB and are cleaning off the tray which pretty much makes any accurate count impossible. I'll keep monitoring and posting info on hive 3.
  I'm surprised that a 24 hour count pre treatment of only 14 mites is showing such a heavy infestation in #3.  Mite drop so far is at 655 for a strong double deep and hasn't slowed down yet. Guessing at 30,000 bees per deep the total population would be at 60K and with just the mite drop numbers the hive is already over a 1% infection rate. 
  Van, thanks for the attaboy, I've done extensive reading on OAV and varroa mites along with digesting graphs and treatment methods but haven't found much info on the actual mite drops after treatment which is why I'm posting the numbers on hive 3. I'm hoping the actual numbers can help someone understand what is happening after a OAV treatment. 
  Definitely going to retreat this weekend since the daily drop is still high and continue posting the sticky board count through the course of the treatments.
 

Good job Beeboy01 keep up the good work and please keep us posted....

[Beeboy01]

Here's a followup, Day 6 mite drop 135, day 7 mite drop 110 which brings the total to 900 in a week. I'm starting to see some lighter brown, coffee with milk colored mites on the sticky board along with dark brown mature mites which leads me to think I'm getting the mites as they hatch out. Starting to wonder just how bad an infestation #3 actually has, after a week the mite drop hasn't slowed down at all. Treated the entire yard again and changed some things around so I can use sticky boards on the other hives for monitoring.
  Wasn't thinking while breaking down a hive and dumped a load of bees directly on my shoes and picked up eight or so stings on my ankles, just glad they didn't crawl up my pant legs ;). Finished the day with everything duc taped and in the rain.
  More daily counts to follow, I'll try to include the other hives if the sticky boards work.
 

[Beeboy01]

Day one after second treatment, hive #3 has a 200 mite drop. The other three hives in my yard had 4 or 5 mites or less.
 
Day two after second treatment, hive #3 had an increased mite drop of 250. Just a small 3 or 4 mite drop with the other hives.

Day three after the second treatment, hive #3 mite drop of 200, nothing noticeable with the other hives.

Day four after second treatment, hive #3 mite drop of 125, maybe I've broken the mite growth curve but it is still too early to tell. No changed with the other hives.

Day five after second treatment, hive #3 mite drop of 110. Nothing noticeable with the other hives.

Day six after second treatment, hive #3 mite drop of 120. 

[Beeboy01]

Here's a picture  of my wand set up,  The heating block is made out of 1/2 inch aluminum plate, the heater element is a Auto zone 1107 diesel glow plug and the high temp switch came from Allied Electronics on line. The switch turns off at 350 degrees and resets at 320. The wand takes about 3 1/3 minutes to reach full heat and shut off. I hard wired all the connections just to prevent any voltage drop on the spade connectors. The main leads were a set of jumper cables I picked up at a thrift store,  they are over kill but the price was right at $5.00.

Day seven after second treatment, hive #3 mite drop of 85.

I gave #3 the third and last treatment after today's count. Since I'm not seeing any mite drop in the other hives I decided not to give them the third treatment.
 
Hope this has been informative.

[Beeboy01]

Here's a picture of the wand's head, had to post a second time due to the file size limitations.

[Dallasbeek]

Very impressive.  I like the temperature control.  In the first photo I see a Duracell battery.  What is that, exactly.  Does it power through a number of uses without recharging the battery?  What keeps me from using OAV is having to have a car battery to power it.  I wonder why no one has come up with a way to power one with household current.

[Dallasbeek]

Maybe I should have asked HAS anybody found a way to power with house current?  Looks like a step-down transformer would do the job.

[Beeboy01]

The battery is out of a camper and is also used for my boat and emergency generator. I just recharge it after using it and have run 10 treatments on it so far with no noticeable power drop.
   I can't see any reason that a 12 volt step down transformer couldn't be used to power the wand. It would need to be a pretty beefy step down transformer depending on the heater rod used along with a decent DC bridge to change the voltage from AC to DC. I'm not sure if AC current would be compatible with an automotive glow plug.
   It might just be easier to build a unit around a 120 volt heater unit instead of converting from AC to DC. Something like a higher wattage soldering iron would work for a heat source. Even the high temp switch would work with 120 volts AC and wiring it in would be the same as with 12 volts DC.
  Most of the wands are built around a 12 volt system because bee yards are isolated and are away from any 120 volt source. 12 volts is available from trucks, atv's and dragging a battery around to the yard.