SO was out on the deck on my day off just to observe the hives I have a bowl of sugar syrup on the deck for the bees to discover and they have been taking drinks. Since my initial blog post this year I have stayed out of the hives and I believe that was the smartest thing I have done so far this year.
High level summary:
This is the earliest I have ever had the top cover off and I almost made splits from one hive. I believe now that would have been my dumbest move ever as I am sure the splits would have perished and the hive I split them from would be gone too.... still just too cold.
So let me reflect on my previous post and give next steps..... 2 of my four hives died over winter and while I do practice IPM (integrated pest management) I will add something new and see if my results are better.
My apiary is in a half square configuration, meaning that I have two side of a square one facing south east. More south than east and the other more east than south. two hives made it two didn't. It may say something that the two hives that died are both facing the same direction. Oh and each of the hives had a huge mite count on the slide out. That's not each of the hives that died had a huge mite count...all 4 had a huge mite count from fall & winter until Feb.
Next steps:
1) clean out all the nucs and queen rearing castle and get them ready for work.
2) get the deep frames I made ready for spring by installing the wired wax foundation. At least twenty frames. 15 for the nucs and 5 for the two hives that survived as I like to replace 2 frames per deep box that are older than5 years.
3) besides splits to break the brood cycle I will add oxalic acid drip to the two colonies that survived.
4) document everything to see the impact.
5) pickup oxalic acid, turns out that it's pretty simple and while I am sure Central Hardware or Clarke's Hardware store would have had it. Gary's Ace Hardware store ordered it for me and now has it in stock. and I need a syringe too.
Concerns:
So adding oxalic acid to my beekeeping has been a hard decision but I have read a bit of it and checked Bee Source on line. I don't like having to add oxalic acid but I feel I could really improve on keeping bees. Meaning oxalic acid is naturally occurring in nature and some of our veggies have it but the concentrations recommended are definitely different than we consume. I have an interesting side bar on that as well. To state plainly what my concerns are...
If I am killing mites that are impacting my hives, what else am I killing without knowing it. Are there things in the hive that I will impact that are good for the hive?
If I kill the mites for the bees how will they ever develop to resist on their own?
Lastly, the definition of insanity, if I do nothing why should I expect different results.
So I will use a dribble method where you have a liter of sugar syrup and 3.5 grams to the liter and mix it well. Then apply 5ml per seam (between two frames that have bees) no more than 50ml per box. and let the bees spread it and the mites are impacted.
When do you apply Oxalic Acid(OA):
Best to do before the hive has brood early spring (almost) now or late fall.
Also if you do create splits good to apply 25 days afterwards as the queen will have just been created and the brood cycle will have just begun.
I am really interested in seeing how all this works out. I have a few other projects to try but before I run I have to figure out how to walk (get the bees through winter and healthy).
So a few beekeepers will argue vaporizing oav versus oad(drip). To vaporize it you need a way of heating it up and a power source. Many will state it's easy to do and my response is... it's an option but the drip doesn't require lugging a batter and heater to the yard... so I'll start with the drip and keep the vaporing for a next step.
How does OA work:
This is interesting, in that it does, if too strong a concentration, kill bees but in the concentration I will use will not. The bees tolerate it but the mites are 60 times more susceptible to it. I should see mites on the screened board slide out the next day as proof it worked.
So the funny/interesting story. While reading up on oxalic acid (OA) I found out it's naturally occurring in spinach, broccoli and other vegetables. Now originally that's the proof I needed it was available in nature but...
My lovely wife Teresa is susceptible to kidney stones, and has fought them through many a painful session and the funny thing is that it's usually when she's eating healthy. She'll eat salads with spinach and broccoli and peppers onions mushrooms etc. The doctor always said calcium seemed to be what her stones were made of.... I proposed to her maybe the OA in the veggies was the issue or pain in her side.....her OTHER pain in her side.
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