Suggestion for Varroa control

[efmesch]

Considering
1. the difficulty/incovenience  in detecting varroa infestations
2. the very high effectivenes of Oxalic Acid Vapor treatment
3. the fact that OA is a natural substance that does not poison bees or contaminate honey in the hive,
4. that all indications so far have been that varroa mites do not develop resistance to OAV,
5. the relative ease and speed of applying OAV-----

Perhaps it would be wise to treat hives with OAV as a matter of standard practice, "automatically", once in the early summer (when mite populations start their real buildup) and a second time, toward winter or very early in the spring, (when the overwintering populations are normlly low and there is a minimum of closed brood).
Keeps who don't or won't make mite counts, would simply treat and keep their hives' varroa populations down to a very minimum.  Low levels of infestation are good for everyone, since that reduces the forces that lead to spreading infestations to more and more hives.

What are your opinions on this idea?

[kebee]

 I treat mine whether they seem to need it or not with Oxalic acid Vapor,

 my eye site is not as good as it used to be and I cannot see the little buggers so here in the south I know they are still in there harming the bees.

Ken

[Chip Euliss]

I tend to treat twice a year and at lower mite thresholds than most folks.  I firmly believe that controlling your mite loads will solve most of your bee problems.  That said, I do check and will withhold treatment if my mite loads are low.  For me, it pretty much boils down to economics; it takes a lot less labor to check your mite loads than it does to treat them.  OAV is less expensive for sure but it still takes time to vaporize them. 

[Lburou]

Ef, as a practical matter, there is wisdom in your proposal...As long as you use a proven method in the "soft treatment' arsenal and not use coumaphos, fluvalinate or any of the ineffective or 'dirty' insecticides.  I call the miticides leaving residue in the combs or having other side effects in the bees 'dirty' miticides.

Endorsing such a proposal goes against my ideals, but oxalic and formic acids are effective and show little likelihood the mites will develop immunity.  It is a risk I am growing more and more comfortable with.  But, 30+ years ago, I was comfortable with terramycin patties every year...   

[Les]

It is my understanding that when you treat with Oxalic that you do three treatments, each one a week apart.  Is that what you mean Ef?

[efmesch]

Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer---that depends on the state of closed brood in your hive.  If none, one treatment would be adequate.

Of the other, alternative treatments, some are easy (just hanging a stick/tape of coumophos = bad poison) that requires a second visit for removal after a period of treatment time.  Others, like smoking with Amitraz, also require three treatments, each a week apart.
I'm not saying that Oxalic Acid treatment is the very easiest of treatments, but, all factors considered, it seems to me to be easy enough to be competitively advantageous.
Another factor I didn't mention, but Chip did, is that OAV is relatively cheap.  I would add, it's only cheap after you discount the cost of the equipment needed to apply it-- but that is basically a one time expense.

As I think of it, (hoping that it remains so) I think of OAV's biggest advantage to be the lack of mite immunity to the treatment.

[J-grow]

Where do you get the stuff needed to do these treatments? Thanks

[efmesch]

I bought my vaporizer and OA powder on-line through Amazon, but if you Google "oxalic acid vaporizers", you'll get a whole slew of suggestions and information too.  Choose what's most convenient for you (cost, shippping time, guarantee, etc.)

There are a lot of You Tube videos showing how it' s done.  Not everyone does it the same way, try what suits you best.

[Perry]

Because Oxalic is limited in its application up here (no honey supers allowed on) I have chosen the formic route. It also has the advantage of no mite resistance. If I found that mite levels were high enough to warrant using Oxalic during the broodless period as a "finisher" I probably would, but have had such decent results with the formic I haven't had to resort to the Oxalic for a couple of years.

[efmesch]

Perry, what is your method for treating with formic acid?

[Perry]

A Varrox vapourizer.