Frank,  In your note you said it works in the bottom super only,   are you referring to just the standard hive body?  Implying that the vapors wont rise in a larger hive??

I use standard Langstroth boxes with front opening slides (English design about 2000) as I have my hives in pairs on pallets.  The bees will start fanning the second you close the slide and if you don't wear a mask, you get it straight in your face.  Vapour is mostly gone overnight.


I have taken hives apart after an hour and the bees will have started to move on to the top bars of the bottom super (that's with a double dose) and yes on hot sunny day, the grass will be burnt.

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I wanted to see how effective a single 40 ml dose worked as I also pull drone comb as part of my mite control so tried it with a full drone comb left in the second super.  It clears off phoretic mites but wasn't sufficient to keep up with the mites breeding in such a big slab of drone comb away from the immediate effects of the acid.   I was applying Formic once a week and looking at mite fall daily over a month.   Hives without much drone comb had greatly reduced mites.  Our real problem is in winter when other hives around you are dying and I'll get plastered with re-invasion hence the need to treat in winter.


I learnt this at EAS last year.  Canadians now have a different formular where they start at 40 mls and take off a ml for every degree of temperature to stop bee damage on hot days. eg 40 - 15 degC = 25 mls


l'lI see how this work under our conditions.  We also don't have very hot days where I live; 25C in summer is a hot day on the coast, 30 deg C  inland but we also have wind!  I hope this helps


Frank Lindsay

Wellington New Zealand

________________________________
From: Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Juanse Barros <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, 1 October 2016 2:48:23 p.m.
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [BEE-L] Formic vapours

On Fri, Sep 30, 2016 at 9:17 PM, Richard Cryberg wrote:

> Jaunse said that higher concentrations of formic on the bottom board would
> kill the varroa that fell off the bees as a result of formic exposure up in
> the hive.  I just do not think there would be a significantly higher formic
> concentration on the bottom than you found higher in the hive for strips
> placed on top of the bars.
>
> I have no opinion on how good formic strips would work if placed on the
> bottom board.
>

Me neather and I think we are talking flash treatment and not necesarily
strips. What I am saying  is that you get a better kill if you MECHANICALLY
ie. closing entrances and cracks, allow formic vapours to build up on the
bottom board. At least that is my understanding with formic acid use. I
have never used MAQs strips.

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