# opinions; oxalic acid, glycerine and water/shop towel for mites



## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

I've been reading about the use of oxalic acid treatments for mites. Ingredients are dirt cheap, deadly to mites, safe for bees. 

Juist as important, this treatment appears to be usable during the honey flow and while the hive is full of brood. 

I see the evaporators, quite expensive and one-shot deals that must be repeated if one is to get control of the mites. 

I'd like to hear opinions on mite control please.


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## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

Oxalic acid only kills the mites that are not in capped cells so if your hive is full of capped brood, you will be missing those mites. We use a mix of oxalic acid and formic acid, depending on the time of year, the weather, brood levels and the mite load.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Oxie is not legal in Michigan as far as I know at this time.
Been useing Formic acid Canadian style for years.
Those pads that you find under meat in trays to soak up blood you can buy new.
Depending on the amount of bees you have (100 thru 124 here.) 2 gallons of formic.
Place the dry pads in the formic, remove and drain excess off.

This can be used during a flow but we put it on the hives in April,One pad on the top bars of two deep hives.
a week later we remove what is left of the pads, the bees want it gone and take it out in pieces.
We also place two drone comb frames in the hive and every 20 to 25 days ull them and replace them.
Freeze the ones pulled.

Then near labor day we pull the honey supers every thing they collect then is theirs I place a pad on the top bars again at that time.
We do not have a problem with Mites.

At one time I used to use powder sugar on them too.

Al


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

I bought drone combs, and a friend suggested Hopguard. Oxalic acid is not accepted anywhere that I know of, but I'm not selling either bees nor honey. Mites were a big problem in OK, and my beekeeping neighbor there has had big losses---he's an old man too and may just give it up. 

Seems a darn shame to require the bees to raise two frames of drones to be killed, but that seems to work according to the only large-scale bee keeper I've met here. I'll look up the formic acid routine. I'm going to do my best to keep these girls alive.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Yes it is two frames of brood but only drone brood and I found the bees build less drone comb thru out the hive if they have the drone comb.
The mites really like haveing the mites raised in drone comb too.

Al


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

Yes, Al; everything I've read indicates that mites prefer the drone comb, and of course some people were trying smaller cell sizes. It just seems a waste of bee time and energy to raise drones to kill. We need mite-proof bees. 

I've read that somewhere (In Scotland I believe) a fellow has come up with a strain of mite-proof bees-=--something in the genetics that does not permit mites to grow in the cell. Those are what we need.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Been plenty of people here in the USA that raise queens to get hygenic bees.
Click on this link and read about these peoples queens and being mite resistant*.
https://vpqueenbees.com*


Al


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