Beekeeping – Oxalic Acid Treatment
This is another oxalic acid treatment. The main thing here is that I have made a new device for getting the vapor into the hive. It worked great! It was so much easier to use. It just sat on the top of the hive while I heated the oalic acid in the pipe cap. this has worked great I have now done this treatment several times and have found many many mites in the bottom board tray afterwards. It can be done any time of the year and leaves no toxic residue build up. Just to be clear Oxalic acid is not an approved mitricide in the US even though they have been using it for years in Europe and Canada. Places by the way where they have less mite problems and CCD…. My Disclaimer: Oxalic acid is approved for use as Wood Bleach for cleaning wood. My intention is to clean my wooden ware, it just so happens that this also kill mites…..
15 Responses to Beekeeping – Oxalic Acid Treatment
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no, but they weren’t in Canada over 10 years ago, so now we have to spend way more money treating the mites to make sure our conolies survive the winters and are strong throughout the summer for good honey production. Never had to deal with that before. Mites used to never be in America either, or the Neatherlands…..actually don’t know where they originated but the past few decades they have immensley spread around the world
trond18
December 9, 2012 at 4:33 am
No Need to do this unless you have determined that you have a problem with mites.
You should do a sugar shake and see mow the mite drop is before doing this treatment.
Alfred Westlake
December 9, 2012 at 5:18 am
Thanks for your vids. I have just got a hive and I’ll give this a go.
h1aa
December 9, 2012 at 6:03 am
No problem, sorry if I came across as defensive. I actually wasn’t sure what I might have said about the mites, and there has been a lot of wild and crazy ideas about CCD out there.
I treat for mites when the load becomes too great for the collony to deal with. I think that long term we need to work towards hygenic resistant strains of bees. So these days I am less inclined to treat and more inclined to just let the weak ones go.
Alfred
Alfred Westlake
December 9, 2012 at 6:04 am
not being confrontational, just sharing information.
slacker361
December 9, 2012 at 6:27 am
Nosema has been around for years as well. Just because a parrasite has been around for a long time doesn’t mean that it can’t be helping spread a new disease. look at the problem we are having here in colorado with west nile being spread by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes have been here for ever but the west nile is a new thing.
Alfred
Alfred Westlake
December 9, 2012 at 7:24 am
I don’t think that I said that they did, did I?
There are a lot of ideas about what ccd is and how it is spread. Mites very well might be part of the spread. I think that the last I read that the nosema apis parasite was strongly suspected as a carrier/spreader or in some way adding or exacerbating the CCD issue.
Alfred Westlake
December 9, 2012 at 7:48 am
mites have been on bees for millions of years , mites are not causing CCD
slacker361
December 9, 2012 at 8:13 am
Why are you doing this ????
Michael Furst
December 9, 2012 at 8:26 am
Thanks for the info, I have some polarized lenses that I use when I fly fish. I will try it.
Alfred
Alfred Westlake
December 9, 2012 at 9:18 am
good idea with vaporising the oxalic acid. Video problems were reflections from the sky. Try putting a lens from a pair of regular polaroid spectacles in front of your camera lens. This should cut out all glare, (depending on quality of the polaroid)
chemcarr
December 9, 2012 at 9:19 am
Hi again Eric,
Yes it was very successful. I had mites dropping for a week after the treatment.
I now know that the treatment is best done in mid winter when the brood is at it’s smallest as the mites in the brood cells don’t get killed. Pick a warm day.
I will probably get an electric vaporizer at some time in the future as it looks like it would be quicker.
Alfred
Alfred Westlake
December 9, 2012 at 9:56 am
thanks for showing us this. was the treatment succesful? thx eric of Gardenfork
erochow
December 9, 2012 at 10:01 am
Technically since it is not approved for such here in the US I can’t say that I use it for VARROA or TRACHIAL mites. Although I don’t think that it matters since I am not commercial.
I could say that I use it to treat the wood of the hives and a side effect of this is the elemination of all mites not capped in with brood. If done in winter when there is no brood then it will get them all. leaves no long term residue, mites build no resistance and does’nt harm bees, if done prolerly.
Alfred Westlake
December 9, 2012 at 10:37 am
What is this treatment for?
horse18pasture
December 9, 2012 at 11:20 am