>How long are the crystals active once on the bees? We have gone with the
understanding that it is 36 -48 hr. What are the factors that determine
active life of crystals? Why is it different on a sponge or strip for
example? What happens to the condensate that does not land on a bee?
All great questions Paul. The 36-48 hour "disappearance" is supported by
data. But I'm not clear just what happens to the OA. My preliminary
findings are that when I treat dead bee bodies with OA, that it degrades on
its own fairly rapidly. I tested on shrimp chitin, which rapidly
neutralizes OA, but shrimp chitin contains calcium carbonate, which insect
chitin apparently doesn't. This is one of the details that I hope to
figure out this spring.
The question of condensate in the hive is also of interest, and will be
easy for me to test.
The glycerin in the sponges assists in making the OA stick to the bees'
bodies longer.
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
530 277 4450
ScientificBeekeeping.com
>
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