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Oxalic Acid Vapor - new application method.

16K views 18 replies 2 participants last post by  Gypsi 
#1 ·
so I hurt my shoulder back in september and couldn't tote the car battery around to use my OA Vaporizer so my bees didn't get treated. October, I don't remember what that disaster was. November, I went to bee club. Whereupon a young man named Jason who is a 3rd generation beekeeper with a LOT more hives than I have was telling people about his new Oxalic Acid Vaporizing system.

Clue: involves an insecticide fogger powered by propane. https://www.amazon.com/Burgess-1644...sr=8-2&keywords=burgess+propane+insect+fogger

The price on this has gone up, I spent about $65 on mine, and I think Walmart has them.

There are youtube videos on using a fogger to treat bees for varroa mites with oxalic acid.

A 8 oz or 16 oz or even quart canning jar will thread onto the bottom of the fogger. You must mix the oxalic acid with Everclear or some other very pure ethyl alcohol, and the fogger must never be used with real insecticides. So visit youtube, I'll try to post some links in a comment, and take a look at this. Compared to 3 minutes with a standard vaporizer connected to your car battery, this 3 or 4 puffs, and it knocks out the mites without killing the bees. (according to my hives, which I really need to go through soon)
 
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#10 ·
Water won't vaporize properly. I used pure grain alcohol, 180 or 190 proof. Followed directions exactly, heating the alcohol with the oxalic acid until perfectly clear, then poured thru a strainer into 8 oz mason jar. It Worked. No dead bees
 
#11 ·
ok, ill get some of the alcohol and try it out..another question, I have seen some videos of treating bees in the winter with OA vapor, from the weather forecast it looks like we may have some warmer weather in the 50s coming and was thinking about giving them a final treatment before the true winter settles in, what do you think? I treated a few times in the fall, but now with no brood all the bees and inside of the hive would be treated...
 
#14 ·
You need a really good chemical blocking ventilator for this recipe or it will ruin your lungs. They do not recommend heating it in the house. I did. With a window open, carefully observing, but it is not recommended. You absolutely need a good ventilator to apply it. On the bright side you don't need a truck battery.
 
#19 ·
This method bombed. Killed fewer mites than simply vaporizing the oxalic acid, the intake mechanism on the fogger hated the alcohol/acid blend and plastic on it broke apart into tiny pieces. Gone back to my battery charged Varrocleaner
 
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