A publication by Dadant states “The hive returns to pre-treated levels shortly after treatment. In the rest of this discussion, I’m assuming that there is little or no residual activity after an oxalic treatment. In my most humble opinion, anyone who thinks that standing upwind of the vapor will protect him, doesn’t have enough IQ to be a beekeeper.
I think beekeepers are way too cavalier about breathing OA vapor, and while most will get away with it, some may not. If you can smell the acid, the respirator isn’t working. Practice fitting the respirator to your face and check for leaks, and make sure you purchased the right cartridge. Also read the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for oxalic acid, and read the instructions that came with your respirator which you undoubtedly purchased and plan to wear. Once you decide to vaporize, I strongly suggest you read the EPA label for using oxalic acid in a bee hive. But just because “everybody” does something, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I’m silly and overcautious, right? Fine, I’ll cop to that. Stories and photos of haze-filled apiaries with coughing, hacking, half-blind beekeepers make me shudder. As it happens, I have a love affair with my lungs, a co-dependency you might say. A word about safetyīefore I continue, I want to make it clear that I am not a fan of oxalic acid vaporization. My assumption here is that there is little or no residual effect. In deciding how much time to leave between treatments, you have to decide how long the chemical stays active in the hive. More recent reports say that levels of oxalic acid in the hive quickly return to normal after a vaporization treatment, which makes more sense. But if this were true, mites would continue to be killed as they emerged from the brood cells. Some of the early reports claimed that the coated surfaces continued to kill mites for up to three weeks.
Although this substance is not particularly harmful to honey bees, it is deadly to varroa mites. As you know, oxalic acid vaporization sends a cloud of tiny crystals into the air which quickly attach to all the internal surfaces of the hive, including the combs, the woodenware, and the bees themselves. I think the big question here is how long after a treatment does the oxalic acid continue to kill mites. Some folks advised her to use three treatments five days apart, another advised three treatments seven days apart. A reader wrote that she was confused about scheduling oxalic acid vaporization treatments when brood is present.
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