Treatment day

[LazyBkpr]

   Treated 42 hives this morning.. it took me just over 2 hours.  Still have to go to the outyards to treat those hives.

  I have quickly come to love this little cart. No more jumper cables or carrying buckets and supplies. I can run four vaporizors from it if the need arises. The gas engine spins the 1 wire GM Alternator and keeps the deep cycle battery charged..  the vaporizors worked as well on the 40th hive as they did on the first.







   The cart carry's everything I need, including the bucket of water to dip the vaporizors in between treatments.  About two hours to treat 42 hives, and I did not rush. The carts handle flips to be pulled by hand, or it can be hooked to a 4 wheeler or lawn mower.

   One of the best things about OAV, is that it does not seem to bother the bees very much. They will fuss a bit while being treated, a few bees come out and fly around the entrance, but within a few moments of finishing they are right back to business as usual.






   This hive was treated about 5 min ago..    Back to work!   Off to treat hives in outyards!
   Scott

[Some Day]

How many hives can be treated with a deep cycle battery if it is not recharged?  I have not tested yet.

[J-grow]

Man that is the way to do it!

[CBT]

I put a rag over the entrance so they all get it then leave it on another few for good measure.

[Perry]

Too organized!

[LazyBkpr]

I used to tape the upper entrance and block the lower with a rag, but laziness, lack of TIME, and the fact that the blockages often ticked off the bees made me try it without stopping up the entrances..   Watching vids of commercial keeps treating with the OAV tube/gun where they did nothing but squirted the vapor in gave me a bit of confidence in trying it as well..   Mite drops are still off the chart, and apparently the crystals transfer so readily that what little is lost has little impact...
   However...   If you only have a few hives to treat.. I think blocking the entrance would be the way to do it. Less waste, more concentration..

   I have never tested it with a non charging battery of any type.. previous to this cart I used my truck, let it idle and ran the jumper cables to connect the vaporizor leads to.  I have read others say they could treat six to seven hives with a standard car battery. Do not know about a marine deep cycle. I would assume a few more if it was well charged.


  Organized?  Perry.. I KNOW your not talking to me??

[Some Day]

When do you plan to do a second treatment?  And will you do a 3rd treatment before winter?

[LazyBkpr]

I will do a second treatment next week, then wait two weeks to do the final treatment and catch any emerging brood not caught by the first two.

   A quick vid of the cart running.




   Some do 4 treatments a week apart, some do two treatments, the second treatment 21 days after the first. Treating three times at day 0, day 7, and day 21 has proven to be extremely effective for me.
   Some like to wait until their bees are clustered and do a Single treatment..   I really like to knock the mites down when there is still enough time for another round or two of brood. That brood emerges into a mostly mite free hive, so that hive and the bees in it are quite strong and healthy when they DO begin clustering for winter.
   Just my own preferred method. It has worked well so far!

   Edit;
   I am speaking of fall treatments here..  In Spring I usually only treat once in early April on a beautiful 60 degree day. Not much brood yet, and it knocks the mites down so the hive explodes with the flow.

[Alleyyooper]

Yet another ruse for the HF Predator.

    Al

[LazyBkpr]

Yep Yep!!!

   It fired first pull this spring after setting all winter...  Pulled it out of the shed this morning, checked fuel, and one pull later it was ALIVE!!   Good little motors!

[Alleyyooper]

I've got 3 two hemi models and a non hemi model on the log splitter. a Hemi on th esnow blower and the other on the Troy built chipper.
All one pull start if I remember to turn on the switch LOL.

   Al

[LazyBkpr]

LOL!!
  They should put a light, or a horn etc on them.. so when someone pulls the cord and the switch is off......

[brooksbeefarm]

This may be a stupid question ? but why use a battery if you have a generator?or Is the vaporizor 12 volt only? I've not used the OAV method Jack

[iddee]

It's not a generator, it's an alternator. An alternator will not start to produce without a battery. It has to have a current running to it to activate. Also, the battery works as a regulator, keeping an even currant flowing and reducing or eliminating surges.

[apisbees]

To add to what Iddee posted the vaporizer is 12 volt only It is actually a glow plug form a diesel motor. with it being 12 volt it is more portable than running power out to a bee yard or carrying a generator, If they were 120 volts..

[Bakersdozen]

Do you consider OA a treatment?  In the thread, Oxalic Acid Discussion, post # 137, you stated, "I do not treat for mites in ANYWAY.  I am treatment free, TOTALLY!!!!"  Just wondering.

[apisbees]

This is what Lazy posted that B12 si asking about.

however, I will stick to my own original methods.. I do not treat for mites in ANY WAY.. I am treatment free, totally!!!!!   I do a couple times a year, go through my hives, and use OA to bleach the inside of my boxes and my frames.. it is a wood bleach correct?

He made this comment in regards to the approval of the use of OA for treating mites. Until a product has been approved for use as a treatment for bees in a hive with all the appropriate application rates, methods, and safety precautions, written on the label. If a chemical residue was found in your honey That is not approved for use in the hive, your honey would be rejected by a packer. Before there was any approval for the use of OV in regards to use in beehives for treating mites It was referred to by some as bleaching the inside of the hive or frames cause OA is used as a wood bleach. It was a poor misguided argument OA was not only not registered as a mite treatment, but was not registered for use in the hive. so any chemical found in honey that is not approved is considered contamination. It must be pointed out that both OA and formic acid are both found naturally in honey so rejecting of honey would not happen in the case of these 2 products.

[LazyBkpr]

Thank you Iddee, and Apis.. well said.

[vvand111]

so is it being said that OA is considered a treatment and if one uses it he could not say that "He does not treat his bees" 

Sorry, He or Her to be PC

[LazyBkpr]

Yes,  though it is harmless to the bees, it is organic, and the HIVE already has Oxalic acid in it.. it IS considered a treatment.