EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Formic Acid / Beekeeping 101

We are nearing the end of July which means it is almost time to start thinking about winter preparations in our beehives. The first step in winterization is making sure your mite load is low so that when the bees start making their winter bees, they are able to develop a strong and healthy winter generation. Personally, I love using Formic Acid so in this video I discuss all of the pro's and the con's and all of the things beekeepers notice when using Formic. And I am going to show you how to use Formic Acid in your colony. Thanks for watching :)
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Beekeeping, beekeeping 101, varroa mite, miticide, formic acid, formic pro, mite away quick strips, mite treatment, how to treat your bees

[@bookworm81151]

Sorry you got stung. Thanks for the information. I didn't know about the heat. I live in Fla; I wonder if I should wait till Sept or Oct. Anyway, thanks for a very informative video. bob 😃

[@catherinelodge1919]

Another really helpful video. Many thanks - going down to my apiary now to follow your instructions xx

[@DooleyBFR]

Great Video! You have knack for this stuff! Bee Keeping and youtube I mean!! You gona do real good now you are over a thousand! Best Wishes from "Hillbilly Bee Keeping" God Bless you and your Bees!!!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

🥰 thank you so much! I have so much fun making the videos so more is definitely to come!

[@TennesseeTim38451]

I can sit and listen to someone geek out over the ladies for hours!!! Really enjoyed your video and explaining formic!!!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

🤣 you and me both! Even worse when you are talking with a beekeeper in person I swear I could talk all day 😂😂 thank you!

[@walusimbikhan6484]

Thanks the information, it's so good keep that spirit.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thanks for the message ♥️ hope ya have fun with your bees!

[@mattgilbert364]

Awesome, I appreciate your content!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thanks! Appreciate your comment ☺️

[@MinnesotaBeekeeper]

You can treat with overlapping one pad at a time and deal with less bee drop. It doesn't need to penetrate the cappings with a spaced application. Bees emerge, mites are exposed and kills em. Similar to spaced Oxalic acid applications. Would like to know where the one quarter of a treatment effectiveness is coming from.

[@gregorymichael3196]

Thank you BG. You are a wonderful soul full of knowledge. (Bee)Keep spreading it!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank you ☺️ I still a lot to learn but sharing what I have learned so far

[@FreeRangeArtFarm]

Great video, great information. Thanks for sharing. I hit the sub button. Looking forward to more from you.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

More is definitely coming! Happy to have ya! Thanks for joining the community ♥️

[@johnkolstad3424]

Thank you for the information on only useing one strip at a time treatment. I was useing that method. I plan on switching to the full dose at one time👍

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Happy to help! Any info I can relay to make beekeeping easier ☺️

[@brucesbees]

Great stuff Emily! I have never used Formic Acid before. It gets so hot down here in summer. But maybe I should give it a try sometime. Temps can be tricky though.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Not a fan that it does seem to burn 1/4th of the brood. But I like that you can treat once instead of having to do it in waves since it kills both mites on bees and in brood.

[@jspeers1]

Very true here in the south, I’ve used in spring, but even then I lost a couple of queens. It kills mites, but in summer when I need to knock them down it’s too hot

[@johnnybstuddd4482]

Great video. Here in Georgia its too hot so I use oxalic acid. Thanks for the information

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Thank ya! Yep that’s the hard part about it 🥲

[@michealparker4694]

I got stung in the same place recently. After 25 years with the bee's a neck sting still hurts. The After effects go away pretty quickly though. Thanks for the video. I may try the formic acid this fall. I currently have the O.A. shop towels going.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

I have yet to try OA but it is on my radar of the next thing to try. Glad I’m not the only one getting stung in the neck 😣

[@viklund2725]

Beurer BR60 an aid that gives off heat in the place you have been stung and dampens the effect of the poison so the pain and swelling are dramatically reduced ;) Tips from a new beekeeper who has kind and calm Nordic bees that have been here in central Sweden out on the coast since 10,000 years ago.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Wow that’s really really cool! Thanks for the tip ☺️

[@GeorgeCMcRae]

swear by formic pro. out in my area I do a formic pro treatment followed by oxalic acid glycerin shop towels or swedish dish cloths per Randy Oliver. First knock em down then keep em down.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

That’s a great idea!! Planning to start using OA next spring ☺️ thanks for the tip!

[@mehran_esfandyari1]

🐝🐝🐝😍❤❤

[@neildavidson8097]

would you consider using using formic acid in a controlled manner but using plastic zip bags with absorbent pads.heaps cheaper .should have the same effect. but nothing to compare it to

[@paltataryn7670]

HI Em, what about feeding during application? FPro recommends no but...?\

[@StarveEgo]

I recommend you try oxalis acid. It’s organic and proven to work 100%. Great informative videos that you make. Bee keeping is very interesting.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

That is one I was wanting to try out in the future for colonies that don’t show resistance. Planning to bring in better genetics in the spring so I don’t have to treat 🤞🏼

[@user-hp7gj5fd3e]

I treat my two hives per instruction, exactly!!! Temp here 50 low 79 high. Day 1 thunderstorms rolled through and by morning over 1/2 of super strong hive…. DEAD AND STILL DYING. Weaker hive well over a 1/3 dead… What the what??? I’m pulling the two strips at this point in order to save hive and see if Queens are also dead! Any advise or suggestions??

[@gazinta]

Check out the OA cellulose pad treatment. They can sometimes build up a tolerance to certain treatments. It's good to switch it up and catch those little buggers while they're not looking... I'm from South Haven.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Oh hey! Fellow Michigander 🙂 I agree! It is wise to switch up treatments. So we don’t encourage resistance. I have yet to try OA but it’s on my list!

[@gazinta]

@@beefitbeekeeping the pads are what we use. It seems to work well. Our hives are busting at the seams. It's been a really good year. I'm from the South Haven area. I'm a migratory beekeeper, so I'm all over the country.

[@gazinta]

@@beefitbeekeeping check out Harris Joubert Sleepy Creek Apiary here on KZbin. He has a video posted last year on the recipe and proper application. I might make a video on my other channel. This channel is satire. Look away!

[@beefriendlychannel7965]

@@beefitbeekeeping This is my other channel. I'd be right proud to have you aboard.

[@dlh987]

Wondering what your thoughts about a formic acid vaporizer. I found this at Cowichan Bee Supplies.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

In all honesty I didn’t even know there was a Formic vaporizer until you just now mentioned it! Would be interested to learn more about it. I’ll look into it!

[@2timbukk]

As others have mentioned about your reaction to the sting and I’m sure you are aware of the risk of anaphylactic shock I strongly recommend keeping a eppy pen with you whenever working your bees. I almost died from this happening to me after keeping bees for 5 years. Great videos 🙂 usually the eppy pens are free with your insurance plan.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

I will definitely look into getting one. This sting scared me, was making my throat feel tighter than I would have liked. Thank you ♥️

[@bduerr5082]

My dad got stung in the neck and he went into anaphylactic shock and almost died. Hospital had to work hard to bring him back. He carried an epi pen for years and he was very scared when I started beekeeping. About 10 years after he had to quit because of the sting I started beekeeping and was very nervous about my bees. But he kept his epi pen close and his distance from my bees and he was ok.

[@BrentRoss]

ya i wore a black wrist support on day… cracked a hive and got chased hard haha PS don’t wear black :p

[@BrentRoss]

ya i wore a black wrist support one day… cracked a hive and got chased hard haha PS don’t wear black :p

[@2timbukk]

@@beefitbeekeeping after I went through that and almost died from one sting I started getting allergy treatments in ft Wayne for stings and now when stung it doesn’t even react much…. still hurts but not the drive me crazy itching and swelling I used to get. Love your channel and drive! ♥️

[@jaredgodwin5956]

If you use 2 deeps is it 2 strips per deep equaling 4 in total? Also, can you use it if nightly temperatures dip into the high to mid 40’s?

[@disillusioned070]

Just two per hive not two per deep. Brucesbees has a video with the creator of FormicPro, Tom Nolan. It's only about 20 minutes long and very informative. Look for - "Tom Nolan - FORMIC PRO for VARROA MITES (Even in the South)"

[@taylorjohnson6144]

Wish the could design a slow release that could br used for 90° and up.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

I agree. It’s difficult trying to find days that aren’t so hot. Luckily Michigan has been cooler this summer so far than in past years

[@stevenkawano9746]

Awwww ur poor neck😔Crazy u could tell almost Immediately after u got stung Happy ur over that one! Always a student I like that and just based on the videos uve made u prolly haven't covered a Quarter of the information as far as bees go! But even as a lay bee person I find all this super interesting and super informative and again u always do a Wonderful job of conveying All this information in a fun and entertaining way so👏👏👏And I'm Sure ur bees Appreciate all the hard work and studying and time and energy u put into making sure they have the Best life possible, a True responsible keeper you are💛🐝👍And darn those mites sounds like a vicious cycle but at least the bees have a secret weapon against them named Emily😁👑🐝Keep em coming my friend Hope ur having a Blessed day today!☺️#emilyisthebeesknees💛

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Maybe I’ll talk you into getting bees one day 😉

[@stevenkawano9746]

@@beefitbeekeeping 💛🐝💛

[@dcsblessedbees]

A mistake I have not made :-) hope I don't either. I think you were focused on what you were saying and not your zippers, that's how you get a bee in your bonnet :-) Ty for sharing your time, Blessed Days as a beekeeper...

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Definitely! Will always make sure it’s zipped completely from here in out 🤣🤣

[@shawnsolonski2681]

Just used it for the first time on our 750 colonies and after the mite counts were all zeros . Killing those little bastards..lol

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Hell yeah! That’s good! Getting ready to do an alcohol wash soon to see how well it worked. How’d your bees react? Did it kill any of your brood?

[@shawnsolonski2681]

It was our first time using them so we were a little scared of how they would react but everything went better then we expected.. Honey flow is on and stacking up supers now .. Very hard year cos the weather was so cold and wet in Minnesota.. Has us behind a week or two.

[@shawnsolonski2681]

Love your channel !! Wanna do it too but hard to find time with all the work .. keep up the good work.. Nice to see how Everyone's doing in this crazy business

[@BrentRoss]

haha today i was stung probably 200 times. Tank top for life :D when you said one got through I was like…. aaaannnnddddddd???? :p

[@beefitbeekeeping]

🤣 would have been find if it wasn’t on my neck. That one scared me, thought I was going to have a bad reaction 😳 happy it went away after a few days

[@BrentRoss]

@@beefitbeekeeping Yeah the same with me. For some reason getting stung in the face or the neck always swells way worse. But you start to get pretty ninja at killing bees that get in your veil :D and like that other guy said it’s always good to carry Benadryl or an EpiPen. I’ve heard of the keepers that suddenly become allergic. hope it’s never me!!! 😧

[@user-eg3do6ne6i]

Hi. Was there not a paper wrapper that needed to be removed?

[@disillusioned070]

The paper around the treated sponge is designed to slow the off gassing. Brucesbees has a video with the creator of FormicPro, Tom Nolan. It's only about 20 minutes long and very informative. Look for - "Tom Nolan - FORMIC PRO for VARROA MITES (Even in the South)"

[@PapaBee165]

What do. You do with a double brood box hive?

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

You place the pads as shown on the top bars of the frames in the bottom box and put the top box back on so it sandwiches the pads.

[@PapaBee165]

Okay, still just two pads.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Yes! The gasses will go up and down throughout the hive. 2 pads on the bottom box

[@MrBeachbums5]

WHAT BEE SUIT DO YOU WEAR - WHAT IS THE BRAND?

[@beefitbeekeeping]

It is a BetterBee suit! And worth every penny! Only reason I got stung was because I didn’t zip it all of the way. Otherwise those bees cannot get thru at all and it’s breathable which really makes a difference on those hot days 🥵

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Actually oops I lied! It’s the HumbleBee 420 Aero suit!

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

I held my breath waiting for the sting, I'm both disappointed and glad that you didn't show it hahaha! How's it healing up? I bet you were cussing! 😅❤🐝

[@beefitbeekeeping]

For some reason the video wasn’t recording when it happened or I would have! It’s much much better! Almost gone, can’t really tell it was there anymore. Just a little itchy still

[@InsaneFacts220]

can you help me i am a new beekeeper and im very desperate, i tried yesterday this treatment an today i see 200 Bee dead or caroling on the ground , the temperature is right here in Ohio i don’t know what to do

[@denb7181]

Why did you put it in the top box I always put it in the lower box just wondering

[@beefitbeekeeping]

I did put the Formic strips on the bottom box. Is that what you are talking about?

[@denb7181]

@@beefitbeekeeping Sorry my mistake

[@PutEmInTheBox]

One strip, half width entrance, on a singles. Burn and return. Good queens bounce back with a vengeance!

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

That's what we do!

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Oh so you do put an entrance reducer on when you do a single strip?

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

@@beefitbeekeeping when I've done it before the package has said to close up screen bottom boards but locally the beekeeping association says to leave them open. So we leave the entrance reduced but the bottom is just a screen.

[@PutEmInTheBox]

@@beefitbeekeeping my hives are on two way pallets with half width entrances year round. I do one strip for 7 days in springtime if needed. No second strip. This works for me in NJ.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

This is interesting 🤔 that is really good to know! Thanks guys ☺️

[@honey_bee_live]

Yep that Velcro…😕

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Gotta love it 🤣😅

[@KajunHomestead]

That's a pretty bad reaction to a sting , better keep a close eye on your reactions they could get worse. Just to be safe.

[@beefitbeekeeping]

I thought the same thing..I used to be allergic when I was little not like epi-pen allergic but whole body covered in hives at least. My whole body was itchy after this sting so I hope my body isn’t rebelling against stings now 😳

[@neonic1489]

No face mask?

[@madcap7034]

Are you single

[@beefitbeekeeping]

Sorry no I’m not! 🙂

[@friendayors]

why do we have to watch you get dressed? Distracting ...

[@jeronimomod156]

Question what is the shelf life of formic acid?