Dick, Allen, et al:


Having written the following thoughts a while back, as I try not to speak
up too often in 2004, I have been ruminating what others have, so far, to
say regarding OA.

Glad the old sun has finally crawled out of the pit in the winter solstice
loop, however incrementally.

Many of you should recall that I, being diabolically opposed to using any
hard chemicals inside the hives when I was hammered hard by VD this past
fall, treated mine (50) with only confection sugar to powder the
girls “purrrty,” and then a modified OA spray at 30% in syrup—in part,
because all my colonies are on SBB, making it difficult to keep the vapors
inside for any length of time, and, in part, because I wanted to maximize
the benefits of both trickling and spraying methods, let alone OA in
solution is a bit safer to administer than in gaseous form.

It seemed to have worked fine.  Well, so far.  However, one colony is
already dead although I cannot pinpoint the possible cause among the
myriads around this time of the year, and my gut feeling is that when I
sprayed them between the frames as well as at the top of both deeps—this
is long before they have clustered—I may have hit the “less-than-stalwart”
queen.  This is just my intuition from “knowing my bees” because after my
unorthodox experimental treatment, which I am not endorsing to anyone
[caveat emptor!], I could see that the bees were stressed although they
would eventually recover—sometimes taking a day or two.  OA at 30% is a
strong poison, no doubt:  wear all the protective gear (eye and nose and
hands) and always *check the wind direction* before you apply.

At one point during administration, for instance, I bent down on my knees
to do a good job of spraying, especially along the lower corners where the
bees had congregated, away from the spray.  As I went down, almost
following the settling vapors in the air, I felt a sharp sensation [burn]
in the eye, for a few vapors came up through the cracks beneath the tight-
fitting sun glasses.  At that point, I stopped and washed my face and eyes
by spraying water *profusely*: no matter what you do, carrying a capacity
sprayer filled with fresh water, good enough to drink if thirsty, I find,
is a must in beekeeping.  To protect me better in the future, I now own a
few pairs of 3M, disposable or washable, paper/plastic combo, white jacket-
hood that has a clear plastic visor, looking like the face of space
helmet.  According to my reading on OA, the most serious, irreparable
damage can occur to your kidney by breathing the gas in while fumigating
in gaseous form.  Remember, I was, and still am, really reluctant to use
any treatment at all, and of course, I have yet to wait to see the overall
result in the spring.  That said, I have yet to go down with the ship.
Well, not yet.

My overall observation, from the just one-time experiment, is that the
best time to use OA in *my area* is not fall, a point that has already
been mentioned.  Rather, it is during the dearth between the spring and
the fall flow: between sumac and golden rod bloom in my neck of the woods,
especially for the colonies *not on alfalfa fields*.  To a large extent
Carniolans shut down brood-rearing during that time and then so do
Italians, though to a less extent.  While researching studies on OA, I was
unable to find any experiment done on the colonies on SBB, especially the
efficacy of using evaporation.  Holler should any of you come across one,
for I need to read more.

That OA cannot reach inside the capped brood, hence leaving VD survivors,
does not bother me at all, for my goal is not to wipe them out, but rather
help my bees learn to tolerate the buggers.  The sooner, the better.  Such
gradual exposure will help me cull the survivors quicker, and my gumption
[gum + assumption] is that a beekeeper should not have to travel all the
way to Siberia to find a VD-compatible stock or pay $500 bucks for a bug.
Of course, I have already set one yard aside on Experimentation Farm (650
acres on ladino clover) to stock only feral captures with zero treatment.

Yoon

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