" (1) In the spring I usually dose my hives at three or four day intervals with oxytet and icing sugar on the ends of the topbars of the broodnest. Strong hives invariably clean the powder up very quickly; with weaker hives the powder may be barely touched between openings and I find the presence of this unconsumed powder a good indicator that this hive needs attention to determine what is amiss."

I would suggest that when you are using oxytet with icing sugar in the spring, do not place it over the ends of the frames, but rather slightly closer to the middle. The reason is that when it applied on the end bars it can remain there a long time, which can cause issues with residues found in the harvested honey from those hives. As issues with food safety are gaining more attention, this is a simple thing producers can do to protect themselves from having problems later.
Tim Townsend
Stony Plain AB

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