# Is sealing the hive necessary after OAV treatment



## Clayton Huestis (Jan 6, 2013)

I seal mine for 10 min per hive after vaporization. I have many old boxes too. I plug cracks and rot spots and whatever with duct tape best I can. I think sealing is to keep more of the oa in the hive to cool than outside the hive blown away with the wind.


----------



## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Other than trying to streamline the process a little, I don't understand why having enough rags available for the extra 5 minutes time to keep the hives sealed would be an issue. Rags are cheap, or free. 

Seal them up as you go, and then circle back and remove them later. I would think the health of your colonies would be more important than cutting corners on mite treatment.

Maybe someone has data on treating without sealing, but I choose to stick with what works.


----------



## spottedhoof (Mar 2, 2015)

I always thought is was more important to treat correctly and thoroughly than to rush it. 
My instructions state I should seal all openings for 5 minutes after I'm finished. 
I'm fine with this, even sealing off the screened bottom. 
I hope Mites are affected the more it's closed off.


----------



## Sanguinetti351 (May 30, 2016)

Right I never intending to cut corners, for some reason it never registered to me that it was necessary to seal up the hive. Probably because of the all the beekeeping videos on youtube I've watched .


----------



## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

If you have the time and resources try a side by side comparison. It might work out fine either way. 

Guess I'm just old school set in my ways, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".


----------



## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Sealing during the treatment is to prevent the oa from escaping to the outside. Because the
bees will be fanning like crazy inside. That is why there is a need to seal it.

After the treatment there are some residual oa still lingering around for a few minutes. The bees
will not stop fanning until the oav is completely subsided. If you don't
want to seal it like the you tube vids then use more oav per hive. This will compensate for the lost of
oa without sealing after the treatment. In the end what work is when there are enough oa to cover the
bees per treatment.


----------



## Stephenpbird (May 22, 2011)

You don't need to have 100% kill rate for the summer treatment, enough so the bees have healthy winter bees is adequate. Not sealing the hive during and after treating works, I have done it. BUT for the winter treatment during the broodless period you do want the highest mite kill possible. Every single mite left alive in the hive at this time makes a difference to the build up rate of mites in the spring and early summer. It's worthwhile investing the extra time sealing the hive and testing the efficacy of the treatment in winter.
As Mike says it does not take that much more effort to seal the hives and that's what I try to do even in summer. I have forgotten to take the sponges that I use to seal hives to out yards, in this case I don't worry to much and treat without them.


----------



## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

Each different kind of vaporizer has a different method that is particular to it.

Therefore the question isn't whether "sealing a hive" is necessary when doing OAV, it's whether when you use the equipment you have you need to seal the vapors in. 

With my Varrox, the closed-in time is 10 minutes after the wand is withdrawn.

From what I've seen on the video on Larry's (SNL) website, for the ProVap the answer is no.

BTW, I use paper towels instead of rags: five across the front entrance of a 10-frame colony. I put a single paper towel in the middle position so I can pull the wand out without disturbing the rest of the blocking; it's quick and easy that way - with almost no bees coming out.

I keep a roll of 3-M's blue original painters' tape (one inch wide size) on my wrist when working in a leaky-box yard. It's much kinder to paint than duct tape, and you can seal any holes and leave the tape in place for the couple of weeks of a treatment cycle, then easily remove it.

Nancy


----------



## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

enjambres said:


> From what I've seen on the video on Larry's (SNL) website, for the ProVap the answer is no.


from the video it's no, but the instructions are kind of wishy washy, it implies if you do it from the back you should block the entrance, but if you do if from the front with a paint stick, you can go on to the next hive without waiting and leaving it blocked.



> You can use the ProVap in the front entrances as well if you wish. Rather than closing the entrance with rags or whatever you choose and inserting the vaporizer in an open area, simply take a paint stick, cut it to the desired length and drill a ¼” hole in the center of the paint stick. Slide the stick over the stem and you have an effective vapor block. With a number of these pre-drilled sticks, you can easily “march right down the line” vaporizing.


now these are the instructions I have been using as I lost the ones that came with the device and they give no amount of time to leave the rags in.

I drill my hole in the middle box of 3 deeps, and have very few of the hives have the oxalic come out the entrance, I have done it at lower temps last year, and up to 70 degrees two days ago. now a question for those using it, I have tried leaving it unattended to load the next cap like the video, but the copper tube has bent on a number of occasions, so I gave up with that, anyone else had the tube bend?? thanks

and they really should have one of the caps flying off in the video, most excitement I had that day.


----------



## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

wildbranch2007 said:


> ...the copper tube has bent on a number of occasions, so I gave up with that, anyone else had the tube bend??


I've never had a problem leaving the Pro Vap 110 hanging in the hole while filling for the next hive.


----------



## Barhopper (Mar 5, 2015)

I’ve had mine bend but it was from user error. The biggest problem I had when using a hole in the middle of the box the vapor would crystallize and scorch the side bar on the frame in front of the hole. I tried moving the frames so the hole was between frames without much better results. After talking to Larry, and some experimenting on my own, I started using the 3/4” shim on the bottom board. Problem solved


----------



## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

Barhopper said:


> I’ve had mine bend but it was from user error. The biggest problem I had when using a hole in the middle of the box the vapor would crystallize and scorch the side bar on the frame in front of the hole.


mine bent while sitting in the hole straight up. as to the middle of the box, my error writing, it's a 3 deep hive, the whole is in the bottom of the box, so far no scorch or crystallizing that I can see.


----------

