Honeybee Mite Treatment using Car Battery and Oxalic Acid - The Bee Store

[@hcauley]

John -- I've look at many videos on this and yours is the best. It's really excellent. My only suggestion is that you appear to downplay the safety issues on the use of oxalic acid -- the Ph is 1.3 so it is very acidic. A good full face mask with replacement extra filters will cost about $50 and, to a point on buying the equipment and using it for years, I'd highly recommend making the mask part of the equipment set. Over time it too will be just a few cents per treatment. Well done on the clarity of your video.

[@amytaylor3505]

Thank you so much for this clear, comprehensive, and uncomplicated demonstration. I knew the basics but wanted to ensure that I understood all the details involved in the process, and it's always nice to see someone do something before I try it myself. This video was just what I needed.

[@reginawhite1235]

Excellent video. You did great job of explaining everything that I needed to know. I even appreciate how you mentioned it doesn't matter whether I hook the negative or positive terminal first. I've been so worried about that. I think I am thoroughly ready to go treat my hives in the morning after watching your video. I believe I'm going to try to treat when there are the most bees in the hive maybe early morning or evening. I appreciate your video and I'm sure my bees will as well.

[@offshoot1008]

thankyou for this video. very informative. i just need to find a battery and charger and then we are good to go. i am more comfortable with the thought of treating our bees with oxalic acid. there seems to always be another expense . this is our second year of beekeeping. we had 1 hive last year and the queen was poor and we didnt know it. that hive was treated with formic pro since the bee store we support soggested this. the hive died . the hive was very small and many factors at play . this year we know a little bit more and bought 2 hives ,one to help the other if needed. well we didnt know better and treated with formic pro. lost 2 queens in 30 hrs of treatment and many bees were dying so we removed the treatment. i could not find acqueen to purchase and hope the hive will make one. we put one hive on top of the other in hopes we will get at least one queen. so im very interested in doing a oxalic acid treatment to get us through winter. we had 0 mite count in alcohol washes before formic pro. i know we should have had 300 bees from each hive but it was a little difficult because we forgot some things and when you scrape bees along a frame to fill a cup , it was not a pleasant scene. we were able to gather 200 bees from each hive. thanks for this video .i am more confident now. we are in canada this weekend weather will be 12, 15 c so a good time for tratment.

[@thebeestore3935]

Formic Pro is a great treatment, HOWEVER, there are limitations. The hive must be very strong and temperatures must be mild (below 85 F). One of the side effects of Formic acid is that the queen quits laying temporarily. This may have happened to you. Oxalic is very easy on the bees. During times of brood production, I recommend 4 treatments at weekly intervals. Best of luck!

[@WallStreet749]

Is the battery still usable after. Is Oxalic acid bad for the battery?

[@thebeestore3935]

The battery is simply powering the wand. The battery will last for many years; however, like any battery, it will need regular charging. The Oxalic Acid does not impact the battery at all.

[@oneoldcurmudgeon403]

John, you removed the super and covered it. How do those bees get treated? Is it the residual crystals in the hive that get carried around by the bees?

[@thebeestore3935]

The bees in the supers will are typically older bees, and less likely to have mites on them. When treating, we try to get the nurses and any open brood cells. Also, I was trying to show that this is a good option to treat the colony during a flow. Most other treatments are restricted to periods of derth.

[@arkas6797]

How many amperes should the battery be? Thank you.

[@thebeestore3935]

It's just a standard 12v battery for a car or tractor.

[@woodsman4cb]

You mentioned that no one knows what a half a gram is. You were right, not even you. LOL . A half a gram is not 1/4 teaspoon. 1 gram is 1/4 teaspoon. Thanks for the video.

[@thanosrevenisios]

Very good video...I'm beekeeper from Greece and I have Chanel in youtube

[@blackberry5908]

Is the dosage still 1/4 teaspoon per super ?

[@thebeestore3935]

I have started doubling the dosage with a much better effect. I now use 1/2 tsp per deep. I run all double deeps, so that is a full tsp per colony. I do this weekly for 4 weeks during brood season and have had great success. If I have a stubborn problem, I will hit that colony with formic if the temperature allows.

[@blackberry5908]

@@thebeestore3935 amazing thank you