Author Topic: Anybody Using the vmvaporizer to treat for mites? (Read 17228 times)

Chip Euliss · « **on:** July 03, 2015, 04:36:23 pm »

I'm interested in buying one of their units but would like to hear how well it works for others. Thanks in advance! Chip

Perry · « **Reply #1 on:** July 03, 2015, 07:10:49 pm »

Are you talking about the Varrox? I have one and it works great.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2015, 08:03:28 pm »

No its a fairly new one developed by a company in California for commercial beekeepers. It requires a portable generator (120 vs a battery) and a compressor since it's an active unit (versus a passive) that forces vaporized OA into the hive. They have a video if you are interested (http://vmvaporizer.com). The Beeinformed effort tried to evaluate it last year but the mite counts were low in the initial colonies they evaluated. Another test is planned (see http://beeinformed.org/). I like the concept of OA treatments but I have over 400 colonies and need something that is fairly fast.

Perry · « **Reply #3 on:** July 03, 2015, 09:42:55 pm »

Very interesting video, thanks. Looks very promising for those with the numbers. Any idea on price?
(I can see why you would wear a mask too).

apisbees · « **Reply #4 on:** July 04, 2015, 02:24:37 am »

Holy smoking Vaporizer. Thanks for posting and showing it to the rest of us.
And Welcome to the forum Chip Euliss. Please join in on some of the discussions and share some of your knowledge and experiences with the rest of us.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #5 on:** July 04, 2015, 10:16:20 am »

The units are $3,000 USD which is pricey but is about what it costs me for apivar the last time I used it. I like the concept and will likely buy one to try unless I discover some flaw that renders it ineffective. My understanding is that they have a 1 year warranty but will repair the units after the warranty for a fee.

Looks like the best time for OA vaporization is when the hives are mostly broodless but it seems that weekly applications for 3 weeks should expose most of the mites to the OA crystals after sublimation? Do any forum members treat repeatedly when there is brood present? Thanks and have a nice weekend!! Chip

efmesch · « **Reply #6 on:** July 04, 2015, 04:54:36 pm »

Greetings Chip on joining the forum and providing us with those great links. I always enjoy the second set of links that comes up after viewing the first. You've provided us with a wealth of information, not only videos.

Perry · « **Reply #7 on:** July 04, 2015, 06:34:51 pm »

You can treat with brood present, but up here in Canada we are not allowed to use it with honey supers on.

kebee · « **Reply #8 on:** July 04, 2015, 06:49:40 pm »

First welcome to the forum, and I think that would be just the thing for a commercial bee keeper for he could do a great many hives real quick.

Ken

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #9 on:** July 04, 2015, 07:37:03 pm »

Thanks everyone for the welcome(s) and discussion on vaporizers. I'm still digging trying to find out if the vmvaporizer is a good investment. I do believe that OA vaporization is a great way to treat for mites but my recollection is that the specific temperature for sublimation is critical so my question has more to do with the specific machine versus the technique. With the recent legalization of oxalic (drip and vaporization) in the US, I do believe a good device will be available that is less labor intensive to meet the needs of a commercial beekeeper. I recently retired from my day job and keeping bees will keep the old man busy but my wife and I are scaling that back too; 700 hives last year, a little over 400 this year (had my worse winter loss ever), 700 or so next summer and then we plan to hold steady at 200 or so till we get too old to handle the work. Bees are lots of fun and they are pretty good exercise too!

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #10 on:** July 28, 2015, 10:54:13 pm »

I opted to get a vaporizer built in Italy by Lega Italy that uses a heat gun to vaporize oxalic acid. A friend in Louisiana bought one last winter and reported great mite control. If you are interested, just google Lega Italy and you will see their products. The one problem is that the kit they offer includes a heat gun that requires 220v. The folks were very helpful and sold me just the vaporizer and helped me identify a 120v model that has the same output specs and will fit their vaporizer. They claim the unit will treat 60-80 hives per hour and my friend in Louisiana says it takes him about 30 minutes to treat a yard of 24 hives so fairly efficient for commercial use. The vaporizer and a respirator was about $300USD and the heat gun was about $150USD. They have someone on staff that speaks English but I opted to just email them and there were no communication issues. The US is lagging behind most other countries in techniques to use oxalic acid to control mites.

Lega Italy is out of vaporizers till September so I'll likely use Apivar as I pull honey since my time is limited. I have one more round of supers to add, then my wife and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary for a couple of weeks (going to Ecuador to visit the wildlife of the Galapagos). We'll be back in early September so will be a little late getting the honey pulled and all the other chores to get them ready to ship to California. I plan to use the vaporizer just before I ship (November) when it's cold and the hives are mostly broodless. I'll evaluate the mite kill if it's warm enough to open the hives and share my findings.

I'd be interested to hear your experiences and any tips you may have to make the vaporization as effective as possible. Thanks, Chip

efmesch · « **Reply #11 on:** July 29, 2015, 01:32:12 am »

North Dakota and extracting in September doesn't seem to fit together in my mind---will it be warm enough for the honey to flow out of the cells?

But--whatever your answer on that question, the reason for the delay is certainly a justifiable one. HAPPY FORTIETH to the two of you. Enjoy your anniversary vacation. ......The Galapagos....WOW!!! That's something really special.

tecumseh · « **Reply #12 on:** July 29, 2015, 06:18:11 am »

over the past 8 to 10 years I have not treated at all. prior to that time I did use oxalic vapor but I made my own vaporizers. pretty simple devices made with a bit of aluminum angle, a diesel glow plug and a very small bit of stainless steel as a device to hold the oxalic. I actually had one set up which operated 4 vaporizers at a time and all of this was run off a common automobile battery. it does take some time just to allow the vapor to settle and the equipment to cool off so multiple units does make the process go much smoother.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #13 on:** July 29, 2015, 08:59:02 am »

Quote from: efmesch on July 29, 2015, 01:32:12 am

North Dakota and extracting in September doesn't seem to fit together in my mind---will it be warm enough for the honey to flow out of the cells?

But--whatever your answer on that question, the reason for the delay is certainly a justifiable one. HAPPY FORTIETH to the two of you. Enjoy your anniversary vacation. ......The Galapagos....WOW!!! That's something really special.

Thanks, we're looking forward to the trip; it's been on our bucket list for a long long time! We'll start pulling honey only about a week later than normal so I just have to make up a week's worth of chores. Good thing I retired from my day job! We have a large commercial beekeeper process our honey so they honey will go into a hot room for 3 days prior to extracting to make the process more efficient. In an average year, they extract into October. This year, they may run later because the crop looks to be larger than normal due to favorable weather and an unusual abundance of sweet clover.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #14 on:** July 29, 2015, 09:19:34 am »

Quote from: tecumseh on July 29, 2015, 06:18:11 am

over the past 8 to 10 years I have not treated at all. prior to that time I did use oxalic vapor but I made my own vaporizers. pretty simple devices made with a bit of aluminum angle, a diesel glow plug and a very small bit of stainless steel as a device to hold the oxalic. I actually had one set up which operated 4 vaporizers at a time and all of this was run off a common automobile battery. it does take some time just to allow the vapor to settle and the equipment to cool off so multiple units does make the process go much smoother.

I wish I didn't have to treat for mites but it has become a necessary evil for me. We have many more bees in North Dakota now than in the past plus most of our nation's bee colonies are in the Central Valley of California at the same time; conditions for spreading mites from apiary-to-apiary couldn't be any better. I use hygienic stock but I still see deformed wing virus from time-to-time. It is nice to have treatment options that are a little greener than most other treatment options. I looked into the 12v systems but they would be too labor intensive for my situation. I'm hopeful that I can treat all my hives in 1-2 days with the vaporizer Lega; time will tell.

tecumseh · « **Reply #15 on:** July 30, 2015, 05:34:17 am »

I am not a proselytizer for no treatment < if my good neighbor down the road in Navasota did not rear a lot of no treatment queens I likely would be treating myself and in the future I have the tentative plans to treat some (1/2) and not others (1/2). When I did worry about such stuff like yourself I looked for some alternative that I figured would not contaminate the internal components of the hive. At that time oxalic was the only real option. At this time of year the day light hours in the Dakotas are long but my best guess is what ever vaporizing alternative you use the 'cool down' period will make the entire process go fairly slow.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #16 on:** July 30, 2015, 09:33:03 am »

Quote from: tecumseh on July 30, 2015, 05:34:17 am

I am not a proselytizer for no treatment < if my good neighbor down the road in Navasota did not rear a lot of no treatment queens I likely would be treating myself and in the future I have the tentative plans to treat some (1/2) and not others (1/2). When I did worry about such stuff like yourself I looked for some alternative that I figured would not contaminate the internal components of the hive. At that time oxalic was the only real option. At this time of year the day light hours in the Dakotas are long but my best guess is what ever vaporizing alternative you use the 'cool down' period will make the entire process go fairly slow.

Definite advantages in being stationary

capt44 · « **Reply #17 on:** August 14, 2015, 04:08:41 pm »

I use the JP 2000 vaporizer and used it this past March 15th.
I then came back 10 days later and treated again.
My vaporizer using 2 grams of oxalic acid took 1 minute 55 seconds to finish cooking.
At the 2 minute mark I removed the vaporizer.
I left the entrance closed for 10 more minutes.
I then opened the hive and the bees went on working as if nothing had happened.
I used a couple of sticky boards in the bottom and couldn't count the mites there were so many.
I did not get to treat last fall.
My hives were inspected again June 17th and he pulled several drones out of the cells and they were mite free.
I am doing a sugar roll test next week and treat the 2nd week in September then again 10 days later.
The bees never got excited during the treatment.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #18 on:** August 14, 2015, 04:51:21 pm »

http://www.outyard.net/treatments.html

In talking with TIm Wilbanks just down the road from me, he said his brother had ordered one, and he is going to borrow it to treat his hives to see how it works. If it works well I might have to go in on buying one with him.
I have seen them in action on vids, but never used one personally...
I have been knocking around a plan to make a 12 volt induction coil with a removable chamber almost like a bolt on a single action rifle..... When I heard they were coming out with this, I halted plans... when I saw it was 3 grand, I figured I would have to dig my plans back out again... we shall see.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #19 on:** March 28, 2016, 01:13:12 pm »

I just too the plunge and ordered one of the vmvaporizer units. Spendy but they seem to work well and should reduce my treatment costs in the long run. I started a thread on Beesource about the time I posted this thread. Several folks contributed information and one person, in particular, has shared lots of valuable information. It's in the commercial section if anyone is interested.