Perfecting Oxalic Acid Vaporization (OAV) 

It has been a minute. It is good to see you here, I hope you like it and try it.

Thanks for sharing. What do you use for trearment?

@@thenewbeejournalI use OAV and just purchased a Pro-Vap because the wand was inconsistent with the temp.

I use the Lorobbees vaporizer, great unit, and even better customer service. For the treatment, once you start and give the first treatment, come back for the next treatment 4 days later, stop once the colony has received 7 treatments. This way, every bee in the colony has received the treatment at least once.

@@thenewbeejournal got it. Thanks.

I wish I have a microscope that powerful, It would be fascinating to see it in action, I would ask some researchers to see if they have it or can make it happen. I haven't seen the interview, it is now in my warch list. Thank you for recommending it. I'm hesitant to use AOE, I've read that it can be hard for the bees unlike OAV. My reason may be personal in that matter. I had cancer three times and I had to swallow radioactive medicine, it messed me up for life, and have to live with the effects, so giving the girls that to eat knowing that may affect them, prevents me from doing it.

@@thenewbeejournal oh man sorry to hear about the cancer! We were discussing with Brad, that be man at Faith apiaries, about how the mites heart slows down after exposure to OA. Typically if a critter has lung damage they start breathing more rapidly. If you find anything to the contrary please let us know!

@@MinnesotaBeekeeper I will inquire about all that for sure, it is very interesting. Do we know the source of the study about the mite’s heart? Very deep into the physiology of the mite, I have to read it.

@@thenewbeejournal Sorry. Mr. Brad Hoog was the President of the Manitoba Beekeepers asso. We talk to him about every Friday on Sawmill Charlie's live bee chat. Often Ian Steppler stops in.

😅 Tell me about it, trying to keep them short is difficult. Temperature is the key to the whole thing. Oxalic acid sublimation begins at 324F and it ends at 375F, if there is anything left when temp increases,it will be burned. Environmental and hive temperature will determined how soon the oxalic gas becomes solid again.

@@thenewbeejournal Thank you. I have a vaporizer and it's set to 444, but the idea is when OA hits the metal it cools to the right temp. Hard to determine these things.

@@NKYHoneyBeesIf you have noticed, when OA touches the metal, it drops about 80-100 degrees, then a few seconds later it reaches 324F and begins sublimating. The oxalic that physically touch the metal at 444F it’s immediately burned, and whatever is left sublimates. After a couple of treatments you will notice residual of oxalic acid burned in the metal cup, that is burned material that never sublimated because of excess heat, you shake it and continue.

@@thenewbeejournal es, this makes total sense. Thank you for the details. I am trying to understand the best way to treat these mites. Looking forward to your experiments. Thank you

We have yards on different towns west of Houston.

I’m selecting for tolerance on my breeding program. If indeed I am, then my bees should withstand the virus loads transmitted by varroa without the colony collapsing. It was a harsh test, but allowed me to select the colonies that even with high number of varroa, kept growing and adding boxes. I’m not treatment free nor I aspire to be it, I don’t want to keep colonies with high levels of virulence ( which is the test) and affect beekeepers and feral colonies alike; but instead, I want genetics that can take advantage of one proper treatment to get a boost and keep doing what their doing, and continue develop tolerance naturally.

I set it up at 380F

@@thenewbeejournal wow. Mine us set to way lower. Thanks.

@@brendawydeven2934 sublimation happens between 324F and 375F. If it is setup lower than 375F it will take more time.

@@thenewbeejournal thank you

I just got my vaporizer from them and it was set at 450? Seems like I should lower it?

Even the ones with temperature control. I asked them why did they set the temperature at 400F and they couldn't answer other than it was the standard. As per the DIY, it is a futile discussion, most believe that the visible cloud is the treatment, which is completely wrong.

@@thenewbeejournal They say that the Varrox Eddy has an automatic temperature control. That is what they say! But you just can put 1 gr. into the EDDY.

@DNADirekt thanks dor the comment. I would have to read more about it, Mannlake's video doesn't mention the specifics about temperature. Like I said, some manufacturers don't even know the range, just set at 400F. It seems like a nice product compared to wands, it will still kill some bees, and you still need to be careful with the "wax ladders" bees build to climb the frames, as wax and honey are flammable. I'm not a fun of proprietary technology, meaning the battery is specific, and the product is already $500. It certainly is a convenient option for someone with less than 10 hives. Still recommend the use of a reapirator.

We set our vaporizers at 380F

Hello Clint, thanks for writing, what you’re describing is the natural situation in most places, your scenario will definitely affect a couple of hives, keep in mind that it is not likely that not only one hive will rob a weakening colony or dead out, the infestation would most definitely be spread and not focused.on one hive. The treatment, any treatment for that matter, would never be 100% effective in removing the mites, nor would it prevent any mite from coming in the future after the treatment is done. The treatment, its delivery and timing is focused on doing it properly and in the proper time, to kill as many mites while they are still phoretic and bring the population down before exponentially multiplying in the season already identified that they do. Mites are here to stay, no way around it, it is a matter of developing a treatment regiment that gives the best chance to the bees and hinders varroa’s proliferation as much as possible, this with the help of selecting for more tolerant and resistant genetics. We do keep bees in several different locations, but this must be able to work wherever you are.