Oxalic acid treatment

[Andrew Westbury]

Hi all, 

I had a pretty serious varroa mite infestation but knocked it back significantly with formic pro. I am now down to 14 mites per 300 bees more or less. ChatGPT is recommending a follow up oxalic acid treatment vs. another round of formic pro. 

Are there local providers of oxalic acid treatments? I called Nod Apiary and the very kind customer service agent recommended getting a provider to do an oxalic treatment because it is pretty involved and requires specialized gear (respiratory mask, etc). 

Does anyone have any advice or referrals? 

Thank you! 

Drew 

[Maryly Snow]

Go to BioFuel Oasis/Urban Farm Garden in Berkeley and buy some oxalic acid strips. No special gear required.

Maryly

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[Gerald Przybylski]

Andrew:
Perhaps ask your AI about integrated pest management...

I'm pretty suspicious of AIs because they're trained an all available information, not just the Good information.
So they echo back the average, which is pretty contaminated by bad data. 
Plus, they're tuned to get cozy with you so you will continue to subscribe, so they tell you things they think you want to hear. 
Our job is to NOT blindly follow, but use our critical minds to get to the root. 


The best practice for Varroa management (or any insect pest) is to rotate through
several different treatments because each operates in a different way.

If you Always treat with the same product the risk is high(er) that the pathogen will develop resistance
(as have the Varroa to Amitraz.  Refer to the 60 to 70% commercial losses last winter attributed to resistance.) 

In an ideal world, the bees would develop their own immunity. 
I think the local/feral bees handle Varroa on their own pretty well. (In our yard we only keep
swarm colonies I chased, or that moved into the bait-hive, or their daughters. They keep
mites down to a couple of percent. Varroa assays with zero mites are not unusual.) 

Randy Olive says he rotates treatments between Formic Acid pads, Thymol, and some other
product that isn't a petrochemical product like Amitraz. 

Know your enemy: 
https://extension.psu.edu/methods-to-control-varroa-mites-an-integrated-pest-management-approach
The article is a little out of date still recommending Amitraz, and it also doesn't mention some of the newest products. 
(any pathogens section of a bee book is out of date soon after it's published. Pathogens are a moving target, and so are the bees in response.)

Interesting: 

"Amitraz. The most popular synthetic acaricide is amitraz (sold as Apivar(R)). Amitraz does not, in its original form, persist as a contaminant of honey or wax. However, some metabolites of amitraz have been found to persist, and there is a synergistic effect of amitraz and viruses that has been linked to increased bee mortality. In addition, resistance to amitraz has been documented, so its efficacy must be monitored closely."
per the link above - (last winter the commercial operators took a big hit after using amitraz because the mites were immune)

In our yard, the bees show us they don't need to be treated when the assays show 2% or fewer Varroa,
plus we don't see many crawler bees, plus it's hard to find bees with deformed wings, plus we find bald-brood
which is indicative of the bees actively suppressing Varroa. 

That's my 2¢

[Catherine Edwards]

The oxalic sublimation treatment (which requires special equipment and protection) is most effective when there is no capped brood present, which mostly happens in colder climates where the queen stops laying for a while. It is a one time hit unless repeated. The oxalic strips are a treatment that is effective over time as it remains in the hive and is effective for 4 to 6 weeks. At the mite level you now have, this treatment should get you through the winter. So, I support Maryly's suggestion. 

Catherine Edwards

(510)421-7206

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