Recipe at the end of this video === kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a9x9pLV3z6jHg2w.html Wettex Original Swedish Dishcloths: amzn.to/3YPHVXi Food Grade Vegetable Glycerin: amzn.to/3k1JiTX --- scientificbeekeeping.com/mite-control-while-honey-is-on-the-hive-part-4/ Other beekeeping tools & equipment that we like and use from Amazon can be found here: www.amazon.com/shop/tennessees-bees

Andy from Irish Bees lists a treatment that he believes is 100% effective. Does take a while, does not involve chemicals and is effective enough for other beekeepers to employ him to treat their bees. He does it at the end of the season when the bees are broodless. He removes the bees into a circular mesh drum and heat treats them. I've seen lots of devices that treat with heat but if he is to be believed, his is way superior. He does not make and sell these, in fact he doesn't even list plans so he doesn't have much to gain.

I have a question I came up with after a few years of observation. I know a few live bee removal experts and have recieved bees from them from time to time. Some of these colonies were thriving for over 2 to 4 years in all cases without human intervention. Having massive honey stores and healthy hives and comb. They all had a mite issue but under control without humans giving any treatment. My question is why do those colonies survive so well without us getting involved? In most cases they were Italian Queens, 3 to 10 pounds of bees, and from comb history observed on these wild hives they all looked to have swarmed multiple times. Back to my question, how are they surviving so well?

This is not really new. We use the same sponges to make Oxalic Acid strips in the same way, for a couple of years now in Europe. Even the Danish beekeepers association has adopted them as a way to treat against varroa mites. The original idea is from Argentina and has been tested and used there for years. There are different brands for sale in stores. There are more videos about Oxalic Acid Strips on youtube

Curious as to why you used the Swedish Towels (Dishcloth) at $1.38 a hive versus the Maximizer Pad at 17 cents per hive? That's an 8 fold difference. I know Randy Oliver said that the Swedish Towel had slightly higher efficacy but its appears negligible. I would think that you, as a commercial beekeeper, would be looking at a Cost/Benefit ratio and on that basis the Maximizer wins.

When I started with these I had only found Randy's initial 18g video... I knew you were testing 50g but I don't like to dose heavier than needed. I then found the 25g studies and how it showed that it was still working somewhat during the 2nd 35 days. So at 35 days with the 18g I added a set of 25g, leaving the 18's on. Another 35 days, I removed the 18s and added a new set of 25's. I started this at the beginning of August after a full OAV cycle. I tested monthly through November and both my hives were at zero mites... I did that rotation through then as well, before it got too cold. Still a bit too chilly here in AZ for a full inspection or testing, but I will soon place my first spring set of 25's. I cut each strip into 4 pieces to spread them out a bit above the brood box. This also allows the 2nd batch to be interspersed between them... I rotate colors and make notes so I know which is the old and which is the new... Haven't decided if I will stop at some point and keep testing to see if they are just gone... I'm in the middle of nowhere, the only beekeeper, and very few feral bees around...

One of my local bee group buddies did this in some hives last year along with brood management and he had one mite found in 10 hives so he is ecstatic about this form of o/a use he is very pleased with it

How long do they last if I have some left over, and what is the best way to store them? Thank you Kamon.

That's the problem. It's not legal, but beekeepers are going to do it especially now with all the publicity. Been seeing Randy's work, but then saw the results from UGA- not as inpressive. Willing to kill all mites , if I'm legal.😁

Randy was asking the community to get connected with someone Senators regarding a bill to approve treatment with glycerin and acid oxalic besides EPA I was thinking a state were been soy grow and is few Illinois is the first and I search for some one found in California Representative Doug LaMalfa passed the news to Randy he may be able to reach Doug and discuss our situation. And in Illinois I sand a message to David Burns

If you were to get the permit through the EPA what would dosing for a 5 frame nuc be? I’m guessing 1-2 sponges if 4 for a double brood hive?

Thanks for the great video Kamon. Hope all is going well with you this season.

RO made it clear from his tests that OADe is a mite reducer. Applying it is still a little tricky.

Now here is a curious question I haven't seen before.... Can you re-charge the pads after awhile, as long as the bees haven't shredded them?

What is the Frequency in applying the oxalic sponge mixture?

Hi Kaymon, from Ontario ( Ian’s Distant neighbour) I’ve been following Randy as well as you. I have all single brood. So on your singles you use 2 strips of the prepared said substrate. Will be using spring when brood builds up. Thanks for the videos.

I'm not sure what these pads are made of but I wonder if pig mat would work?

Lost one hive but going to do much better on varrora this year.

Yeah… but how was the ACId!????!? 😉

We see mites building up resistance to other extended releases treatments. By using OA now in extended release aren’t we running the risk of seeing resistance build up?

Did you say you leave the pads on for 70days?

Hello Kamon and thank you for your videos. Couple questions....watched your how to make these oxalic towel video and was wondering. If i only need a few say for couple hives what would be the recipe measurements. Also can you still do oxalic vapor wand treatments or formic if these are in place or should they be removed then reapplied. Thanks again

For some reason KZfaq unsubscribed me from the channel. Was wondering why I haven’t seen your videos in my recommendations. Subscribed again.

You guys must have more varroa down south because we have areas up here on the eastern shore of Maryland that have zero counts and when you go west in the state you can have folks that are constantly having to treat because they always have some sort of count

Thank you for this video. I would encourage you to take a look at Randy’s mite model. One of the approaches that it illustrates is the idea of knocking the mites back significantly in the early spring thence the OAE pads to keep the mites at bay the rest of the season. I’ve used this approach last season and find it very useful.

Respected sir، sir what did you know about Honey bee sting? is it contain only formic acid?

using the strip paper version of these split the chamber as the queen was unwilling to passover to the other side of the strip version between frames. Don't recommend as a replacement.

I did exactly what you did on 2 double deeps except I used 75g of OA and 75g food grade glycerin per hive over the brood frames in the bottom box, it was put on the 3rd week of Aug and one hive still has them on, that hive swarmed a 7+ frame swarm yesterday Feb 23, they had lots drones with them in the swarm, luckily I was there and working another nuc that outgrew its box, I quickly set and baited swarm trap under them, they were only 12 feet up on a water oak limb in my backyard, just for backup I baited the just vacated 5 frame nuc with an old frame and LG oil, they first were going into the 10 frame trap and actually doing the nasinoff march, but suddenly the swarm in tree broke up and went into the nuc and packed it out with around 2 pounds of bees bearding all over the front and top of the box, my nuc tops have 2 -1x1.5" stiffness rails on top the plywood top cover, knowing there was a chance of rain I placed another wider plywood on top, the extra bees clustered there, as soon as I had morning sun, I moved into a 10 frame deep and they all happy now

Seeing you in the hood, I almost expected you to pull out a lightsaber like Luke Skywalker. Now THAT would make for an interesting mite treatment.

How long do they last in a hive?

are there any states in the US that this is illegal in?

Thanks for a great video, do you have already some results on your hives or you won't count mites on bottom boards this time ? I know some beekeepers have been experimenting with it here in Europe, and results were pretty good, better than formic acid which is often used here, cheaper as well. I will probably also try it later this year, I have just few dozens of hives and it's much cheaper and more convenient than having to buy vaporizer and that special mask so you don't breath those vapors.

synergism. Use more than one item in rotation. Use more than one item at a time in your rotations. Keep them at 1's all year long and your success is way higher. its a fact. No more 4's ... or 10's Re the commercial treatment protocols currently. Lots of perpetual doping going on. Hearing of 15 to 20 times a year is now not unheard of. Not at all. Chatted with a guy yesterday and he wasnt sure if 2022 had 25 or 26. Mind you .. that moved from 1 to 26 times over the course of 33 or 24 years the varroa has been here. and at a dosage about 25 times as strong. Bees look good but it's more than a full time job.

You don’t use Vivaldi board? Your opinion about Vivaldi board because the Farm guy looks like he gives up on… I used them.

Great Video! The Beekeeping world needs to catch up to the rest of the agricultural world in understanding that treatments for pests are a multifaceted approach. You cannot lean on just one technique/chemical/system.

Here in Bulgaria i can only find 85% glycerine. Any idear if this will work the same.

You look like a jedi. May the hive be with you. These are not the drones you're looking for.

I watched the NZ version, a 10,000 hive operation, they use card board and the bees remove them just like they remove paper used when joining colonies.

You can only MANAGE effectively what you can MEASURE! Great takeaway... Emphasizing the "not a silver bullet" but another option to use was explained well. As always thank you for the info. and update on these pads, very interesting. -Brandon

which states is it legal for sponges currently?

i think the sponges are a great idea and I can't wait to try it. I think its a twist on how they do the oxalic acid drips across the pond in some other countries which seems to work well for them. To me, it also seems to be way less disruptive to hives vs blasting them with foggers

I started with 3/8 shims on top. My mating nucs I am doing 1/2”. I am thinking about making all my new lids with 3/4” shim. When using the foamies you don’t have the build up as bad, it only happens with heavy feeding or honey flow and only if you have something holding the foamy up. I am becoming a believer of the foamies.

I like the idea and waiting for legalization in Pa. Haven't heard anything yet. My question is... Why is there a vaccine for AFB when vaccines could be made for the viruses vectored by the varroa mite? Or, a vaccine that kills varroa once they bite the exoskeleton of the bee? I understand it takes a lot of resourced to do this, but they spent that much time on AFB when it's not as big a deal anymore

I started experimenting last year with oae. Will start using June after spring treatment. Hope it holds down mite spikes in July,Aug, Sept.

Thanks for the clarifications. Really appreciate you taking time and effort to put out this content!!

50 frames, 3 bars each, 18 per bar = 2700. $30.00 X 2700= $81,000. One frame per hour, 50 frames= 50 hours. 81,000 ÷ 50= $1620 per hour.

Hey Randy is a Californian . We’re not all bad .

Hi kamon I'm ger and I'm from Ireland love ur videos where do u buy the sponges from

Yes but they take nearly 2 months to zero counts

I used OA/gly sponges last season in June/July. Each sponge was cut into 4 strips. Very happy with the results. Planning to apply them in early May and again in early July this season. All of my colonies were productive & healthy. Zero losses. No DWV observed.

Great video Kamon. I been experimenting with towels and vapor OA. I’m washing each hive spring summer and fall, keeping notes of the outcome. I’d like to be able to do it and never use the formic. Great video young man.

How many days did you say you left them on? Thanks HBM

And what size should you use I a 5 frame nuc

How can that be illegal for a homeowner who doesn’t collect honey and has bees for pollination purposes only?

Thanks again for your great service to the Bee community!

Hello Kamon. Can these sponges be used during honey production? Thank you.

Thanks

Thanks for this explanation, well said.

I am starting my first hive and wonder if I do this at the start, would I need other treatments

awesome video and explanation

Thanks Kamon, I had been wondering how effective the OA sponges were. You are providing a great service to both commercial & backyard beekeepers.

Watched a video of a bee keeper in New Zealand, he used drywall joint strip paper. Soaked it in same solution and hung them between the frames. Seems like he made the like 16” long and folded them in half.

Kamon thank you for all you do for the bee keepers. A question for you where have you found the best place to get OA ?? . I have heard people talking about somewhere in the past in Florida??. THANKS

Great video. Glad to start seeing more of them again

Kamon I’ve been wanting to ask you a question maybe I need to ask this on a live or something but I wanna know how you keep track of all your hives and what they need. Do you write notes for every single hive? How do you go into your apiary and come out remembering what you saw and need to do? How do you keep records and notes?

Kamon, in the video you stated none of the products you used had 90% efficacy. What would you say the average efficay was on the products you used?

GREAT INFO AS USUAL!!!!!!!im at 27 degrees today,,yesterday was 67 here in Ashtabula,Oh

Great content as always sir.