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Oxalic Acid is found in nature, and because it is a normal component of honey, Oxalic Acid is considered a “natural” treatment. In fact, even Certified Naturally Grown beekeeping allows the use of Oxalic Acid for the treatment of Varroa.
Oxalic Acid can be applied as a dribble, a spray, or a vapor. However from research many suggest dribbling the treatment.
*PLEASE ENSURE YOU ARE DRESSED CORRECTLY FOR THIS TREATMENT, THIS MEANS COVERING ALL YOUR BODY IN PROTECTED CLOTHING AND HARD SHOES*
You Will Need:
When to apply?
Oxalic Acid will not kill Varroa in capped brood, it is recommended to apply Oxalic Acid at times when little or no brood is present but before it is crazy cold outside for example late autumn. Treating once per year at the right time may be enough because this system knocks Varroa down to almost nothing.
- Hot Water (this should be in a non-reactive container).
- Oxalic Acid, this should be added to the hot water. (stir, but do not shake).
- When this has dissolved, add sugar and stir until dissolved.
Apply the solution
- Smoke your bees down between the frames.
- Dip the end of the syringe into the syrup, filling the syringe to the 50ml mark.
- Starting at one end of the frames, dribble 5 ml of the solution along a seam that contains bees. (Start at the end and dribble towards you).
- Once you have dribbled 5 ml, you must go on to a new seam. (A seam is the space between two frames or the space between a frame and a sidewall.)
- Once each seam of bees receive 5ml of solution, you are complete.
- In any case, you cannot go over 50 ml per colony. If the hive has more than 10 seams, dribble where the most bees are.
TOP TIP: Remember to apply the mixture directly onto the bees. Mixture that lands on the woodenware will be ignored by the bees and not moved throughout the colony.
TOP TIP: Practice Dribbling with plain syrup in advance to make sure when using this solution, the bees are receiving the treatment completely.
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