> ...I've been searching all over the net
> for any information.  Can't find any.

> We have finally stated to use formic pads for treatment this fall, and I'm a >
bit surprised to find that it is easier and faster to use than Apistan(R).
> Additionally, it is much cheaper.  I'm now curious about oxalic...

As soon as I posted this I found that my search at Apiservices had indeed worked
and I now had two URLs, both in French.  No problem.

Here they are: http://www.apiservices.com/articles/oxalic_fr.htm
and http://www.apiservices.com/articles/varroas_fr.htm

There are two methods discussed, spraying and drizzling.  Here's a short quote
from the one on drizzling:

Dégouttement: "Cette méthode utilise une solution faite d'une part d'acide
oxalique dihydraté et de 10 parts d'eau de même que de 10 parts de sucre. On
déverse sur les abeilles 5 ml de cette solution par ruelle de cadre occupée au
moyen du doseur de Perizin ou d’une seringue. Pour une colonie faible, il faut
environ 30 ml, pour une colonie moyenne 40 et pour une colonie forte 50 ml de
solution. Les traitements doivent être effectués à une température supérieure à
5°C et la solution "chambrée" avant son utilisation. Le travail requis par cette
méthode est comparativement beaucoup moins important que l'application par
pulvérisation car on ne doit pas retirer chaque cadre de la ruche".

Although the docs are in French, it is not too hard to get the gist of it.  (A
person can use use Babelfish at Altavista, but it leaves gaps where one must
guess, since beekeeper words are unknown to the machine).

I gather that 1 kilo of oxalic acid hydrate, and 10 kilos of water and 10 kilos
of sugar would make about 2.5 litres and treat 2500/50 = 50 strong colonies
using the drizzle method.  The spray (Pulvérisation) The instructions are to
dribble 5 ml of the mixture onto the bees along each gap between occupied
frames.  With 9 frames of bees that would be 8 gaps and 40 ml.

The only 'cons' I've heard about it is that it must be practiced on hives with
no brood (hence November in Switzerland) and the bees are a bit upset for
several weeks after treatment. There were some reports of unexpected winter loss
afterwardes, but the researchers mentioned that local yards not treated with
oxalic also suffered losses.

Maybe I should go to the drug store, get a little oxalic and do an experiment.

allen
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