Early Hoffman
- I have the privilege to speak to hundreds of beekeepers each month, some are commercial, while others are sideliners, and a few are hobby beekeepers.
- I found it incredible and literally fascinating that a commercial beekeeper from Florida shared with me that last January he applied oxalic acid drench at 3% strength and at a dose of exactly 50 ml per hive and it quote “HURT MY BEES?” WHAT?
- That’s not supposed to happen, oxalic acid at low doses and at low concentrations are supposed to be safe for the bees? Right? Well it depends!
- If I may remind you, the super organism called a honey bee colony is incredibly complex, nothing in beekeeping is black and white. At best, it is 256 different shades of gray that change each day. It’s a complex system of thousands of inputs and thousands of outputs and we do not control most of them.
- So back to the commercial Beekeeper in Florida, I listened to his story. He exactly measured each dose with a plastic syringe. Only 50 ml and not one drop more. He followed his recipe and mixed 3% oxalic acid. The syrup was always fresh and correctly applied. He measured and measured and measured.
- Given what I was told, what I prefer to do is try to replicate the outcomes that others achieve. I like to run a trial on my apiaries using the same methods and protocols. I want to see if I can get the same results.
- Currently in Michigan we run between 60-80 beehives, most of them are on pollination contract to a local organic vegetable farm. It was decided to use these hives for a trial of 3% oxalic acid summer drench.
- After speaking to commercial beekeepers in Wisconsin, that use oxalic acid drench, it was determined to reduce the monthly dose to only 25ml per hive during the Summer trial period. 3% @ 25ml.
- Apparently, the beehives in Wisconsin were tolerating this low dose all summer long, each month.
- Back to the realities of beekeeping, having multiple yards of bees, means some yards get lots of love and attention, while others are poor and orphaned most of the time. I’m late pulling honey and I’m late getting Varroa mite treatments applied.
- One of the out yards pollinating 20 acres of Summer squash, has the Varroa mites out of control. The Varroa mites are vectoring viruses and the brood looks sick. We perform a Bee Informed
- Partnership BIP test sample and mail it to the university for analysis. The report comes back with screaming high Varroa mite levels and Sac Brood Virus SBV at high levels. This correlates with the spotty brood pattern and the white melted larva that have died in the open cells. The hive is dead, and it does not even know it!
- When we pulled the honey, we applied four (4) legal Apivar Amatraz plastic strips in the brood supers. Yes, the mites were out of control, but it was August and maybe I had time to recover from this calamity. The clock was ticking . . .
- Thinking of back to back Varroa mite treatments, brought me back to the 3% oxalic acid drench Summer trial. Why not? Why Not apply a low dose of 3% oxalic acid?
- So, in late August the oxalic acid Summer drench trial began. There was a fantastic aster and goldenrod flow of both pollen and nectar in Michigan. The hives were still bearded at the bottom board and they were still full of bees. Not 50,000 bees in a hive, but maybe 30,000 bees in each hive. About ten pounds of bees in each colony.
- The hives were all queen right and we were suppressing the Varroa mites for the six-week period.
- We measured and measured and measured the oxalic acid and sugar water to achieve 3% solution. What we achieved is about a three on the Ph scale and can be best described as oxalic acid lemon aid.
- Using a cattle drench gun, we measure the tiny 25 ml of dose for each hive, in each yard. Yes, only 25ml of acid solution. Looks like a tablespoon of volume.
- The other out yards have healthy brood, no indication of virus symptoms and the Varroa are in control.
- One week later, we return to the sick yard of 20 beehives that was dosed with the tiny 25 ml acid solution. Oh YES, we hurt the bees alright. Wow most of the hives got cut in half. The oxalic acid was the stressor that was literally, QUOTE “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.
- I found most of the queens in the hives, they are marked and looked fine. The brood is spotty to zero brood. The honey is still in the supers, but the bees are gone. Most hives are lucky to have a few pounds of bees in them. The plastic Apivar strips are still in the hives after six weeks and the oxalic acid was applied Oh so sparingly. I am still shocked and dismayed, this is not supposed to happen?
- So, for a comparison, we drive down the road to another pollination field, where we have 21 hives on a twenty-foot trailer. They have been in good shape all summer long. Same Queens as the other yards, the Varroa mites were never out of control and viruses were never evident in the brood. The hives are still full of bees and the frames of capped brood look fantastic.
- The stressor of a tiny application of 25ml of 3% oxalic acid had zero negative effect on the healthy hives.
With the four legal Apivar strips applied for six weeks and the application of only 25 ml 3% Oxalic acid solution, the Varroa mite counts were all below threshold values. Mostly ones and zeros in half cup bees. The healthy hives look fantastic and are ready for fall feeding. - The hives that are failing, will be removed from the yard. The bee equipment will be fumigated with glacier acetic acid vapors – anhydrous vinegar! They are DONE.
- There you have it, again we have observed that each beehive is different and that each colony can have a different outcome based on similar inputs. You apply 25 ml of 3% oxalic acid to a hive and it crashes within a weeks’ time. You repeat the treatment of oxalic acid drench to other hives and see absolutely zero negative effects, none. The hives and bees took the stress of the acid because they were resilient.
- So, I go back to the Commercial Beekeeper in Florida, who so honestly shared with me that he used the oxalic acid drench 3% back in January. He said, “I HURT MY BEES” You know what, he was right!
- I replicated what the commercial beekeeper said, yes you can hurt bees with oxalic acid!
The bees are resilient until . . . They are NOT!
