What kind of rig do you use LazyBkp and do you keep use any safety equipment?
Not sure I understand the question? The Cart I posted pictures of with Varrox vaporizors?
Back when I did play a bit with treatments (aside from the A&M bees about 8 years back) I made up some glow plug vaporizer and use a marine battery set up to gas the oxalic. I did have a full face mask (the kind used in spraying auto paint) which must of looked kind of funny with a veil on top of my head!
I tinkered with diesel glow plugs, a handheld butane torch with a homemade copper vaporizor etc. in an attempt to make something a little more usable for multiple applications. The Varrox are a bit pricey, but sure are easier than all the tinkering. I found out someone had already made a commercial style applicator and gave up on my own attempts.
If applied at precisely the right time (which is easier said than done) one treatment makes a significant difference in how the bees perform.. at least over the short run.
Have to agree with that completely.
If you do this a smoker is a good thing to have just to keep you alert to the direction of the wind. You do not want to breathe the fumes.
I have a canister style respirator and black rubber gloves that are big enough to comfortably go on over my bee gloves... But I have not used either of them in quite a long while now.
I have gotten OA on my hand when filling the vaporizor, did not know it until it started to itch.. If you have ever gotten battery acid on your skin, it is a similar feeling, but not nearly as bad. Batttery acid goes from itch to hurt in a short time, OA stops itching almost as soon as you wash it off..
I grew up at a time when we didn't use hearing protection in the military when we were at the range, when Brake dust meant you had to wash your hands and face, and filling new batteries with acid was relegated to the KID... I dont think there is such a thing as a battery you have to fill with acid when you buy a new one any more?
It took quite a while for me to finally get a whiff of OA.. i always stayed up wind and took my time... increasing hive numbers changed the "time" and relaxation into a more hurried application... I got too close too soon moving the vaporizors... Locked up, coughed, got upwind fast... I coughed two or three times, waited a few more moments, then proceeded with no more trouble... lesson learned, NO more hurrying, and yes, the bees get smoked before I slide the vaporizor in their hive. You can see it sitting on top of the pallet lid in the picture.
Immersion type heaters NEED to have a heat sink of some type hooked to the coils, and the time they can be left on is limited by the amount of time it takes them to "overheat" Some heat up faster than others.
