What Happened on Oahu Didn’t Stay on Oahu

Townhall.com ^ | March 26, 2016 | Paul Driessen

[johniegrad]

Although I have zero interest in beekeeping, that was a great post. Thanks.

[IncPen]

I'm a beekeeper as well. You may have heard about Oxalic Acid. If so, I'll post below for others who are interested.

There's an excellent article in the current issue of Bee Culture (March 2016) outlining the use of OA in the treatment of varroa. Oxalic acid has been approved in many states.

OA is readily available, safe for bees and humans when properly used. Oxalic acid is commonly known as wood bleach, and is present in many plants, including rhubarb.

I used it last fall. Two of my three hives survived the winter; the previous year none did. I believe one hive this year was a starve out after a late fall swarm. There are several ways to use OA. I mixed it with a liter of sugar water and dribbled it on to the frames (frames in the hive, in place, not removed). The problem with this approach is that it does not kill mites which are in with the bee larvae; you'd need several treatments to break the cycle. The article makes a compelling case for 'gasified' application; this just means placing a tiny hotplate under the hive which is connected to a 12volt battery and heating the crystals. The hotplates are available at most of the big supply houses.

I purchased Oxalic Acid on Amazon; that size container will last quite a while. The dosing rate is roughly 1/2 tsp per hive (the amount must be precise– get the exact recommendations from the article).

You'll also want to buy a gram scale (±$15 on Amazon to measure the OA)

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PS. Along the way I read or heard that hive beetles 'smell' honey from far (miles) away. They make their way to a hive, go inside and breed. The larva feed in the hive, then fall out to the ground where they go into a nematode(?) stage. When they emerge from the ground, they come back and repeat the cycle. I was able to break the cycle by putting a heavy mat (thick plastic, like rubber) under each hive (screen bottom board); the beetles land on it and die before they get to the soil. I only mention this because I'm picturing myself working on hives at heights you mention, and envisioning my own demise. What you said as far as putting them up high makes perfect sense, though.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I have also found recent successes by raising the height of my hives off the ground to about ten feet high. I use those folding portable deer hunting stands.

:Furiously taking notes:

Does being so high up require extra protection from weather?

[lentulusgracchus]

Bump. Enjoyed your comments, bd. Learned a couple of things, too.

[blackdog]

No. Bees glue everything together so tight that no wind causes problems. The only difficulty becomes working the hives at that height. I use one of those two sided platform ladders so I have a scaffold deck to work from. I have a small chain winch that I lower the full supers with because they go 100 pounds each when full of honey. Then a ground person (apprentice if you can) to offload the winch hook and send it back up.

It gives the neighbors something to talk about behind your back. They already thought I was different. Now bumped up a notch to crazy.

[Pelham]

http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/Identifying_Native_Bees_PosterFINAL.pdf

[huldah1776]

Cool! Thanks! My little bee was as bright as the stripes on the Nomada SP #17. One of a kind, I guess.

[Pelham]

http://www.thrasherpestcontrol.com/golden-snitch-of-the-bee-world-male-valley-carpenter-bees-take-flight/