>I mix 35 grams of oxalic crystals with 1 litre of 1:1 syrup, which I
>make by mixing 625 grams of sugar with 625 grams of water. I use 60 ml
>syringes from the local vet to apply the syrup and put 50 ml on each
>hive. I don't crack the boxes, just look down to see where the bees
>are. Prob average more like 7 or 8 ml per seam at that rate since the
>bees usually aren't right to the outside of the top box. I think I've
>used oxalic for 2 or 3 years, haven't had any problems with the above
>recipe.
>
>Btw, where are you that you are applying oxalic this late?
>
Just finished using the oxalic this week here in Scotland. Have to wait
till you have a reasonable certainty of the bees being brood free. After
the autumn feed many still had brood, especially those in polystyrene
where there was still brood two weeks ago.
This is the recommended time for oxalic application here. We have
checked many of the colonies that were treated and there has been a big
mite drop. The stuff kills mites for sure, and lots of them. Very few
dead bees, just a few at each hive max, in many cases none visible.
Recipe we got, which originated in Europe, was as follows;-
75g of oxalic acid crystals
Dissolved in 1 litre of hot tapwater ( dont know if fawcettwater is a
term our US brethern would use, lol)
Add 1kg of white sugar.
Stir constantly till all the sugar is dissolved.
Apply 5ml of the mixture per seam of bees, less than 5ml on a partial
seam, directly onto the bees in the seam.
Application at any time during the brood free period. Expect poorer mite
kill if brood still present.
Applied here by using a backpack and a sheep doser attached by a tube to
the bottle in the backpack. Doser is a ml max adjustable gun device, and
each squeeze squirts out 5ml of the mix, a partial squeeze gives a
partial dose. ...........dead easy, and one guy can do a few hundred
colonies per day if in singles. No pipettes, no syringes, rapid easy and
accurate delivery. Will cost something like 45 or 50 dollars from your
local vet supply house for the backpack, bottle, tube, and gun
inclusive.
Wise money says to use it as a primary varroa control measure but NOT to
rely on it as the sole method, also using secondary methods, ie thymol
patties, as a back up is prudent. However some have got away with this
for several years without any secondary method as a back up.
Murray
--
Murray McGregor
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