🐝💗Our Backyard Beekeeping Journey!💗🐝

[5Australorpasaures]

From my understanding, OA is a naturally occurring acid, so should be safe to use with the supers on. I think that's what we are going to do. We have OA pads on our hives right now, so I really think it should be fine.

I'm just suspicious and er on the side of caution when it comes to any food product.

 

[drstratton]

Today's harvest went really well. The girls were very calm, which I was thankful for. I didn't weigh this time, but I know we pulled off 3.75 gallons. That should last me through winter...lol

The deeps are loaded with honey, pollen, bee bread, eggs, larvae, capped brood and lots of bees.

We pulled off 14 frames this time. A couple of them were not completely full. So, we're very pleased with the amount of honey they surrendered.

Finally got a good picture of a couple of drones. I will be adding this to my article.

All in all, it was a very good day.

 

[drstratton]

I get mine from LorAnn, natural and food grade, a little pricy but worth it. I have a recipe if interested.

I would love the recipe. Thank you!

 

[drstratton]

I'm just suspicious and er on the side of caution when it comes to any food product.

I suppose you can pull the supers off for a few hours, treat and replace, but that would be such a pain...lol

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I would love the recipe. Thank you!

WINTER SUGAR BRICKS
5 LBS white granulated sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar (mold inhibitor)
1 Drop Lemongrass Oil (attractant)
1 teaspoon Tea Tree Oil (nosema preventative)
1/2 teaspoon Thyme Oil (Varroa)
3/4 teaspoon Wintergreen oil (Varroa) optional

Emulsify oils and 1/2 cup warm water in blender and add to 5 lbs of sugar. I use a 5 gal food grade bucket and mix with a drill and paint mixing paddle. Mix to a damp beach sand consistency, 2-3 minutes. Form and pack firmly in cheap aluminum baking pans that are the dimension of your feed rims. Let the blocks set up about 48 hrs or more. My feeders are 2" deep with 1/2" square hardware screen stapled to the bottom and a 1" hole for venting and exit for winter cleansing flights. I form mine in the feeder board with a piece of 2x4 at the vent hole and remove when blk is solid so bees can have access to the hole. 5lbs does one feeder board for me.

The 1/2 cup of water is not a misprint you'll be surprised that is all you need.
I forgot to mention the blocks absorb extra condensation produced by the bees

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I suppose you can pull the supers off for a few hours, treat and replace, but that would be such a pain...lol

I use the Formic Pro pads so it's a little different.

 

[Apis mellifera]

They were talking about a vaporizer at our last meeting. We're going to find out which one on Tuesday. It's supposed to be really good and under $200, I think it's the one we're going to get. I'll let you know.

Don't go cheap on a vaporizer. I would go with the InstantVap 18V Lite Unit. Lorobees has great customer service. If it saves 2 colonies, it paid for itself. If you plan on doing a lot of hives, I use the original 18V InstantVap. Whatever you get make sure it holds 4 grams of OA. You ABSOLUTELY need a respirator. A 3M respirator with ABE cartridges you can pick up at Lowes.

I was just looking up using OA with honey on, and got a lot of conflicting opinions. What have you heard and what are your thoughts on this?

As of Feb. 2021, OA is EPA approved with honey supers on. With a high mite count you can treat on a Friday / Monday schedule for 3 weeks. This way it kills most of the mites as brood emerges for 1 brood cycle. After treatment do a mite wash to make sure the treatment worked.

We've thought about doing an OA dribble treatment.

As long as there is little to no brood it is very effective. Its typically done during the winter when colonies are brood less. It's also good for packages before they have capped brood and colonies that are brood less after a swarm or split.

Oxalic acid is a great treatment. I can't imagine how many bees I have saved over the years with it. While the vaporizer investment is a bit expensive, the acid is cheap. I use OAV and OAE. I've had great luck with it.

 

[drstratton]

WINTER SUGAR BRICKS
5 LBS white granulated sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar (mold inhibitor)
1 Drop Lemongrass Oil (attractant)
1 teaspoon Tea Tree Oil (nosema preventative)
1/2 teaspoon Thyme Oil (Varroa)
3/4 teaspoon Wintergreen oil (Varroa) optional

Emulsify oils and 1/2 cup warm water in blender and add to 5 lbs of sugar. I use a 5 gal food grade bucket and mix with a drill and paint mixing paddle. Mix to a damp beach sand consistency, 2-3 minutes. Form and pack firmly in cheap aluminum baking pans that are the dimension of your feed rims. Let the blocks set up about 48 hrs or more. My feeders are 2" deep with 1/2" square hardware screen stapled to the bottom and a 1" hole for venting and exit for winter cleansing flights. I form mine in the feeder board with a piece of 2x4 at the vent hole and remove when blk is solid so bees can have access to the hole. 5lbs does one feeder board for me.

The 1/2 cup of water is not a misprint you'll be surprised that is all you need.
I forgot to mention the blocks absorb extra condensation produced by the bees

Thank you so much for this.

 

[drstratton]

Don't go cheap on a vaporizer. I would go with the InstantVap 18V Lite Unit. Lorobees has great customer service. If it saves 2 colonies, it paid for itself. If you plan on doing a lot of hives, I use the original 18V InstantVap. Whatever you get make sure it holds 4 grams of OA. You ABSOLUTELY need a respirator. A 3M respirator with ABE cartridges you can pick up at Lowes.

As of Feb. 2021, OA is EPA approved with honey supers on. With a high mite count you can treat on a Friday / Monday schedule for 3 weeks. This way it kills most of the mites as brood emerges for 1 brood cycle. After treatment do a mite wash to make sure the treatment worked.

So I understand this correctly. Vape 4g OA, once each day, Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday. Then repeat for a total of 3, 4 day treatments?
Is OA all you treat with? I've heard a lot of keepers say that's all they use.

As long as there is little to no brood it is very effective. Its typically done during the winter when colonies are brood less. It's also good for packages before they have capped brood and colonies that are brood less after a swarm or split.

How far into winter do you wait to treat?

Oxalic acid is a great treatment. I can't imagine how many bees I have saved over the years with it. While the vaporizer investment is a bit expensive, the acid is cheap. I use OAV and OAE. I've had great luck with it.

OAE? Are those the pads? Still learning. Thank you!

 

[Apis mellifera]

So I understand this correctly. Vape 4g OA, once each day, Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday. Then repeat for a total of 3, 4 day treatments?

No, treat once on a Friday and once on a Monday for 3 weeks for a total of 6 treatments. It covers 1 brood cycle.
https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/entnemde...ey-bee-apis-mellifera-pest-varroa-destructor/

Is OA all you treat with? I've heard a lot of keepers say that's all they use.

I use OAV based on mite counts, so not all hives get treated. During the summer they all have OAE. If a colony gets a very high count, then I will pull the supers and treat with extended release thymol blocks (not approved yet), but it is in my backyard.
https://scientificbeekeeping.com/extended-release-thymol-blocks/

How far into winter do you wait to treat?

In my area bees are generally brood less between Christmas and new years then I will treat with OAV. OAD also works.

OAE? Are those the pads? Still learning. Thank you!

Yes. I use sponges. VarroxSan is the approved product.
https://scientificbeekeeping.com/instructions-for-extended-release-oxalic-acid/