Allen wrote:
"From what I have
been reading, oxalic is as effective, or more effective than formic, and
easier to apply consistently in some circumstances."

Just thought i'd humbly share some experience on this.

There is one big difference between formic and oxalic: formic will kill mites in sealed brood and oxalic will not. I have been using oxalic dripping for two years and the whole process of applying it feels safe compared to handling high concentration formic acid. I use 3.2% oxalic acid ia 50/50 sugar syrup and drip 25-30 ml per colony, depending on it's strenght. This is done in october at temperatures around 5-10 celsius.

You have to wait until the colony is brood free in the fall in order to get good results (95% mite kill). If the mite load is already high in august, the winter bees might need an earlier treatment in order to be healthy and make it through the winter as a good strong colony. I have been combining oxalic dripping with drone brood removal in the spring. This is obviously impossible for any large beekeeping operation since it's labor intensive and you get a huge messy stack of drone brood.

I can assure you that drone brood removal is great for getting rid of lots of mites in the early season.

What i've heard is that the bees will sometimes panic and boil out of the hive when exposed to formic acid. Application and success rate is highly depending on temperature and air circulation within the hive. Maybe someone else with first hand experience can share some more information on this.

This written from Stockholm, Sweden. Climate similar to nothern US states and carnolian bees (little brood after sept 1st).

Sincerely

/Mats Andersson

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