The hobbyists oxalic acid vaporizer will last for years. Used with oxalic acid for the treatment of varroa mites. Comes with a measuring spoon and instructions.
Connects to a 12v battery. Takes about 5-10 minutes per hive. Best time to treat is when the least amount of brood is present. The vapors will not penetrate the brood. Must be 37degrees or warmer during treatment.
This glow plug powered vaporizer is powered by a 12 volt battery and takes just 2-2 ½ minutes (depending on battery strength) to vaporize 2 grams of Oxalic Acid.
The vaporization of oxalic acid in beehives is a proven method of killing both Varroa & Tracheal mites. Load the cup of the vaporizer with one gram (per brood chamber) of oxalic acid. The vaporization will complete in just over 2 minutes. Leave it in the hive for a minute more to seal in the vapors and you’re finished! Disconnect it from the battery, remove the vaporizer, cool it with a wet cloth/sponge & you’re ready for your next hive! If any residue remains in the cup after treatment, scrape it out with a stick or other blunt object. Make sure you keep your OA in an air-tight container. Damp OA does not vaporize well.
Oxalic acid vapors only kill the mites that are on the bees (phoretic,) not in the brood. With the hive almost broodless in late fall or early winter, that is an excellent time to treat. If the outside temperature is 40 degrees (f) or above, you can safely vaporize. You want to go into winter with mite-free hives, as the main reasons for winter losses are starvation and mites! Both of which are now preventable!
If you need to treat in the summer (and most will need to do so as the mites are outbreeding the bees at that time) you must complete four (4) successive treatments, five (5) days apart to vaporize the mites that are emerging in the brood. If you’ve supers on, you must also remove or place a barrier between your supers and brood nest. You can use coroplast (plastic sign material) plywood or cardboard as a barrier. You can replace the supers or remove the barrier 15 minutes after treating.
In the summer, we open drone brood to decide whether to treat. If the open drone brood contains mites, we treat.
With other treatment methods, you need to purchase them over & over and at substantial cost. With vaporization, you have a one- time cost for the vaporizer and the treatments are mere pennies per treatment!
With a little electrical ingenuity, you can connect several vaporizers to treat multiple hives at the same time.
Note: Unlike some competitor’s vaporizers. It is ready to work right out of the box!
We recommend that you “test fire” the vaporizer prior to using to see just how long vaporization will take with your battery.
More information on vaporization is found at Randy Oliver’s site: http://scientificbeekeeping.com/oxalic-acid-heat-vaporization-and-other-methods-part-2-of-2-parts/
No heavy brood boxes to lift, no frames to pry apart. Just insert the vaporizer and treat. Easy, Simple & Effective!
Use appropriate protection as you should not breathe the oxalic acid fumes.
