> Murray's set-up is excellent for large yards.
Yes. I hate wasting anything so I prepare the amount of solution I need for all my hives with maybe 10% extra. Here is what a small operator, like myself, can use:
When you do your last inspection to verify the colonies are broodless, keep track of the number of bee spaces filled with bees. Multiply the total number of these bee-occupied bee spaces in all your hives by 5 ml. The result is the total amount of OA solution you will need for your hives.
If you use the typical recipe of 1kg of sugar with 1 litre of water and 75 g of oxalic acid dihydrate to get 1.67 litre of 3.2% OA solution, then the number of grams of the OA dihydrate you need to accurately weigh off = 75 * (total ml's of solution for your hives calculated in the above paragraph) / 1670. I use a beam scale to get the right OA dihydrate amount.]
When the OA dihydrate is weighed, I mix up a small batch of 1:1 sugar water & make sure all the sugar is dissolved (using hot tap water minimizes mixing time). I use a large graduated syringe (w/o a needle), to draw off the exact amount of ml's of solution I need and deposit it in a separate glass jar. [I feed whatever little 1:1 sugar water is left over to the most needy colony.] I add the weighed OA to the jar and mix until it's dissolved.
I then use a smaller syringe (again w/o a needle) to draw up 5 ml and trickle it evenly on the bees in each bee space. 5 ml or a smaller amount proportionate to how each bee space is filled with bees. I end up discarding very little OA solution at the end.
Waldemar
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