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  • From: Todd Walker <mtwalker AT imageray.net>
  • To: ocba <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Oxalic acid treatment and supering
  • Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 20:28:23 -0400

At this point, any treatment is a Hail Mary.

Here is the label for Oxalic:

Among other things it says:
"Use only in late fall or early spring when little or no brood is present. Oxalic Acid Dihydrate 
might   damage bee brood. Oxalic Acid Dihydrate  will  not  control  Varroa  mites  in  
capped brood.”

I would use formic acid (MAQS). It works on the mites in the capped brood and with those varroa levels the capped brood is probably loaded. There is some risk to the queen cells but the current low temperatures should work in your favor.

~Todd

From: ocba <ocba-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org> on behalf of Daniel Kenan <dan.kenan AT gmail.com>
Date: Monday, April 11, 2016 at 4:01 PM
To: ocba <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [ocba] Oxalic acid treatment and supering

A bit late we did our first sugar shake test this past weekend and found a heavy Varroa burden in our single colony with 56 mites per half cup of bees. Aside from the obvious, "we should have checked earlier", we clearly need to treat, and quickly.

On top of that, there is capped brood on some frames but no eggs or larvae, and there are several swarm cells that are capped. So it looks like we have already lost a swarm. That being said, our hive is full of bees and drawn out comb and lots of honey in 2 hive bodies, so I think we have a decent chance of filling up at least one super with honey if we don't collapse our colony before the big nectar flow starts.

I would like to go ahead and treat with oxalic acid vapor, but I have 2 concerns:

1. Would this cause a problem with requeening?

2. Would there be any reason why we shouldn't put a super on a few days after treatment?

My understanding is that treating the hive bodies with oxalic acid will not "contaminate" the future nectar/honey in the super that has yet to be added.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Dan
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