Author Topic: OAV treatment  (Read 14336 times)

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Offline Wandering Man

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OAV treatment
« on: August 30, 2016, 05:02:24 pm »
I've overcome my PTSD from my first attempt at OAV treatment.

Lessons I learned:

Never treat at night.
Never force all of your bees into a single deep when the outside temperature is above 100
Make sure you have a good battery
Make sure you have all of your zippers closed.

So, with those lessons in mind, I started again 9 days ago.  I treated my two hives in the morning, so I know I missed all of my foraging bees.  My 24 hour mite count in both hives was 17.  This count was done about a week earlier, while I was still building my courage.  I was counting mites in the oil in my Freeman bottom board.

24 hours after the treatment, I found 91 mites under the BeeThinking cedar hive, and 4 mites in the Dadant pine hive.  The cedar hive gets about 1 hour of son more than the pine hive each day.

Seven days later, I applied the second OAV.  The next day (today), I counted 94 mites under the cedar hive and 6 mites under the pine hive.

I find it interesting that there is such a big difference.  The cedar hive has been the stronger of the two.  The pine hive is from the nuc that left Navasota with many of its foragers out in the field, because they forgot to close off the entrance the morning I showed up.  That was in April, and the hive is stronger, but it has never caught up with the other hive, and it is the child that I worry over.

So, even though it seems like the small population of mites is a good thing, I can't help but worry that it is a sign that something is wrong.

I'll treat next Monday, and post the final mite count next Tuesday.

-WM
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Offline Perry

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2016, 07:30:37 pm »
It can be deceiving, some of the biggest hives in the fall can crash the hardest. More brood, more opportunity for mites.
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Offline CBT

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2016, 09:13:00 pm »
I treated some at dusk and did not have to close them up they stayed in the hive no problem. I thought that was strange.

Offline Jen

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2016, 10:03:59 pm »
Each hive is it very own universe, chemistry, planet.. if you will.

I can have the same scenario you are having, and then the hives do a flip flop in the summer, and then I'll have a hive that I think is under control with mites and I'll find bees with deformed wing virus running around on the ground in front of that hive.

I'm jazzed that you killed 91 mites that are not sucking the life out of your bees, that's 91 too many! and the mites will keep dying for a while. 
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Offline neillsayers

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2016, 10:27:00 pm »
Is it considered necessary to to treat when all the bees are in the hive? I thought the crystals did the work over a few days.
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2016, 10:44:48 pm »
That's what I've read, too. And that's how I rationalized just going in during the day.

The girls really didn't like my disturbing their beauty rest.

But I don't really know for sure.
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Offline Jen

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2016, 10:49:09 pm »
Okay so... I asked the same question a handfull of years ago. Scott aka:LazyBkpr, said that the crystals, or fog/vapor that land on the bees during the treatment get rubbed of onto the other bees.

My problem is that I'm not an early riser, so my hives already have many foragers out. So during the bee shuffle in the hive all day long, the vapor/crystals get distributed through out all the bees over the next few days.

I don't have a source of information or a site to prove that, but it makes sense to me. And, so far over the last 5 years that I've been using OA, I have not lost a hive to mites.
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2016, 08:35:33 am »

So, even though it seems like the small population of mites is a good thing, I can't help but worry that it is a sign that something is wrong.

This statement made me think of a couple of things.  1. It's good that you treat all the hives in the same bee yard regardless of how many mites you found when testing.  It's fall.  Colony numbers, even on huge hives, will drop while mite counts will increase.  2. Testing isn't always 100% accurate.  3.  The OA gets absorbed into the beeswax and provides long term results.
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Offline Jen

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2016, 03:44:31 pm »
Good one Baker, and Apis described that the bees that float from hive to hive will keep carrying the mites to and from. So, I just got all my nucs situated with the correct bottom board so that I can now treat my two hives and the 5 nucs all at the same time on the same days.

Baker is right.. It's Fall! time to think seriously about mite treatment
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Offline J-grow

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2016, 04:49:41 pm »
WM ....... Will you explain the good battery comment please.  I have 5 hives to do and I am going to buy a battery tomorrow and was going to buy a smallish one so that it would be easy to carry around.

How much could each treatment possibly drain a battery?

Thanks

Offline Wandering Man

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2016, 05:24:51 pm »
J-Grow,

I had an old 12-Volt Marine Deep Cycle battery (the size of a standard car battery) that had been living (dying?) in my workshop for several years.  I had charged it over night a few days before my first OAV (disaster) attempt.  The next day I hooked up the OAV and timed how long the battery took to evaporate 2 TSP of OA.  It took the battery 7 minutes, much longer than the 2 1/2 minutes folks say you should leave it in the hive.

On the day before my attempted OAV treatment, I put the battery on the charger, and then carried it out to the hives after dark.  At the time I thought dark would be best because all the bees would be inside.  After 7 minutes, I unplugged the vaporizer.  15 minutes later, I pulled the vaporizer out of the hive and let the bees out.  The vaporizer still had a lot of OA sitting in the cup, so I knew my battery had died totally.

I drove my riding lawnmower out to the hive and hooked up to the battery.  It's a smaller battery, but still 12 volts.  I did the same time frame (7 minutes on, 15 minutes wait).  During the 15 minute wait, I hooked the battery to the charger, and then repeated the process with my second hive.

After the second treatment, my lawnmower wouldn't start without another charge.

I was able to drive the lawnmower back into the workshop the next morning, but the three year old battery was never the same.

I bought a new car battery from Interstate battery, and haven't had any problems.  I was able to treat both hives without a recharge, and 3 TSP of OA vaporizes in less than three minutes.

I've read from others that the vaporizer drains batteries pretty quickly, and so it is not advisable to count on using your car or tractor, as you may get stranded.



On Edit: I used a 1/4 teaspoon measure, not a 1 teaspoon measure. So, it was 1/2 teaspoon that was used when I had two boxes, and it was 3/4 teaspoon when I had three boxes.


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Offline iddee

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #11 on: August 31, 2016, 05:49:20 pm »
WM, one of us is WAY off. It was my understanding that you used 1/4 tsp. per deep hive body. What dosage were you using. Am I totally off my rocker with my thoughts?
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #12 on: August 31, 2016, 05:58:26 pm »
Ooops!  You're right.  I was using the 1/4 tsp to measure out the amount.  So it was 1/2 tsp the first time (two boxes) and 3/4 tsp the second time (three boxes).
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Offline Jen

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #13 on: August 31, 2016, 06:07:15 pm »
J-Grow, I use a EverStart Plus, 12 volt that I bought at walmart. It burns the OA crystals out of the metal cup in 2 1/2 minutes. That's what my instructions that came with the OA applicator said to expect. Each year I do a trial run too. just fill the metal cup with the two spoonsful (spoons come with the applicator) then connect the battery up and watch to see if the crystals evaporate within 2 - 2 1/2 minutes. Then I proceed with the hives.

Wandering Man - "I bought a new car battery from Interstate battery, and haven't had any problems.  I was able to treat both hives without a recharge, and 3 TSP of OA vaporizes in less than three minutes."

Jen - The small white plastic spoon that came with my Heilyser vaporizer is 1/4 teaspoon. On the spoon it's marked 2 scoops, that would be per hive application. May I ask where you learned about 3 TSP for applications? maybe this is something that I haven't been informed of yet...

UPDATE - Okay, that makes sense now. I thought that maybe there was some new info out there that we needed to update. Thanks Iddee for keeping us on the same page  ;) 8)
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #14 on: August 31, 2016, 06:15:38 pm »
Jen,

I had to buy my own set of spoons.  Wife wouldn't let me steal out of her drawer.  I can't imagine why ....
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Offline Jen

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #15 on: August 31, 2016, 06:20:32 pm »
Hahaha! I'm siding with the wife, especially when my men at home are working on their trucks, jeeps, chainsaws, and they wander into my kitchen... Yeeah, they pull back a bloody stump  :D
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Offline Nugget Shooter

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #16 on: August 31, 2016, 06:21:06 pm »
Yes glow plugs draw allot of power and up to 10 amps or more depending on which one I'm told (while being used) so that is a good bit of power at 2 to 4 minutes continued use at a time.
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Offline Jen

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #17 on: August 31, 2016, 06:29:56 pm »
Nugget - True! the first battery I bought, think it was a motorcycle battery was not enough power. My 12 volt works perfectly
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Offline Wandering Man

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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #18 on: August 31, 2016, 06:36:00 pm »
Hahaha! I'm siding with the wife, especially when my men at home are working on their trucks, jeeps, chainsaws, and they wander into my kitchen... Yeeah, they pull back a bloody stump  :D

I will stay out of YOUR kitchen!!!

 :o
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Re: OAV treatment
« Reply #19 on: August 31, 2016, 07:03:51 pm »
OA is generally 1 gram by weight per deep hive body. It was tested at 4 times that amount so there is wiggle room. I use a 1/2 inch copper pipe cap soldered on a strip of copper for a handle. That is 1 gram by weight not packed. The mites do not have a protective waxy coating around where their legs attach and the vapor enters the body and kills them or something close to that.