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I am a beekeeper and I have not had a colony collapse since I started treating the varroa mites with oxalic acid solution. Colony collapse is a generic term for
by kpgraham 7y ago
I am a beekeeper and I have not had a colony collapse since I started treating the varroa mites with oxalic acid solution. Colony collapse is a generic term for hive failure and not a specific disease. Varroa is the main reason why my hives failed. The oxalic acid seems to fix this. I treat them after I harvest the honey in the fall. The varroa infestation dies down and the bees do well.
The crisis in beekeeping is largely a misrepresentation of the facts by the press. Bees are doing well and the count of total hives is increasing each year in the US.
I am going to order some Saskatraz queens, but mainly because they sound like an interesting hack.
- newsreview1 7y agoI've read (and experienced with my Carnolians) that oxalic acid treatments can sometimes take more toll than the mites themselves. Any thoughts about this? Have you had any causalities with its use?
- kpgraham 7y agoOxalic acid is not very toxic. I've read it slows down the bees for a few days, but I've not seen any impact on population. You get oxalic acid in a rhubarb pie and it is harmless. Bees get a very weak solution dribbled on the top of the frames for tens of thousands of bees. They don't get much at all. As far as pesticides, I am sure they harm bees, but CCD has pretty much gone since the aggressive treatment of varroa started. Russian bees are thought to have brought varroa with them. Before that there were pesticides and most were much more toxic including DDT but the bees were just fine.