Extended Release Oxalic Acid Strips

[Lesgold]

Hi folks,

Just thought I?d share with you what some of our beekeeping friends in New Zealand are using to help combat varroa. A company called Beequip NZ is selling cardboard strips, Oxalic acid and glycerine for beekeepers to make strips to put into their hives. In NZ it is legal for people to use these strips under an ?own use? regulation. The kits and strips are available for purchase in Australia but unfortunately they are not legal to use. I believe this may also be the case in other parts of the world. Hundreds of thousands of these strips have already been sold in Australia and beekeepers in varroa infested areas have been using them. When used as a part of an IPM program, they appear to be getting some pretty good results with them. They last about 6 weeks in the hive and keep Phoretic mite numbers down during that time (apparently). Beekeepers have been using them with supers on. I have put a link to the website and if you are prepared to follow a couple of links, you will find some interesting information.

https://beequip.nz/collections/varroa-control

Cheers

Les

[NigelP]

I believe Randy Oliver conducted many experiments with them. His conclusion was they were effective if the bees slowly chewed the strips to bits but if the bees did not break down the strips they wern't anywhere near as effective. I'd have to reheck his findings again, but this is what I recall they worked on some hives ut not all.

[Lesgold]

I?ve read what Randy Oliver has written on his strips. Very interesting stuff. The strips that I?m asking about are basically a kit version of some new products on the market. From memory they are called Varroxsan and AluanCap. Both products are slow release Oxalic acid held in a glycerine solution which is held in a cellulose (cardboard) medium. The bees come into contact the cardboard and the Oxalic acid as they move around the brood box. They eventually chew and remove the cardboard from the hive over about a 6 or 7 week period. Although it doesn?t kill mites inside cells, it is present for two or three mite cycles and apparently keeps mite numbers down.

[Terri Yaki]

My bee inspector mentioned Randy Oliver in a non-flattering way but seeing what side of the fence his is on, I don't let his opinion alone sway mine. I do not know if this is he but here is an article that was posted here some time ago, that I have bookmarked.

https://scientificbeekeeping.com/instructions-for-extended-release-oxalic-acid/

[Lesgold]

Has anyone used the Varroxsan  strips yet? Would be interested to hear how they are going in the US.

[Lesgold]

Here is a video putout by Beequip on making small quantities of OA/ glycerine strips using their kit.
https://youtu.be/8M2aGOiCB_Q?si=nMMTpUxxfXSXxC0H

[Ben Framed]

It is my understanding extended release Oxalic Acid strips are not the silver bullet. Maybe that has changed with further research and experimentation, including better method of application? 🤷🏻‍♂️,
otherwise I?m with Nigel.

[Lesgold]

Couldn?t agree more. It is just another tool in the integrated pest management arsenal. From what I?ve been able to find from my limited research is that there is no silver bullet when it comes to varroa.  OA strips could be a good follow up after something like a Formic Pro treatment. These strips won?t kill all varroa but they appear to slow the growth rate of the pest. Some beekeepers in heavily infested areas are using this type of approach and appear to be managing the reinfestation rates much better than those who treat and then leave the bees alone. Mite bombs are a real issue for beekeepers who have varroa and it looks as though there may be a requirement for back to back treatments for the next few years. We will have a good flowering of ironbark over the summer period. This will attract quite a few hives to the area and I would expect the bug will turn up then (if not before).

[Bill Murray]

Im going to try it next year in a yard. Here is the claim.

Sustained release and high efficacy (average: 96.8%), means that VarroxSan can be used as a primary knockdown treatment, throughout the season. VarroxSan is approved for use during a honey flow, when supers are present.