# OAV and Honey



## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

Mosherd1 said:


> I am leaving a super of honey on a few of my hives for Winter and I am going to be treating with OAV, my first time using it. I know that in Summer I would need to remove the supers or block the supers from the vapor. My question is do I need to do it in the fall? I am thinking if they do not consume all the honey in the super and I end up extracting it, would it still be unsafe to extract 10 months from now? The same goes if I decide to ever extract deep frames in the double deep. Thanks,
> -Dave


If there is any chance it would get extracted, It should be removed it during treatment. I only treat brood boxes. Honey from the brood boxes is never extracted. If I have to break a box down, it goes in the freezer to be used for nucs the next year.


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## orthoman (Feb 23, 2013)

I pull the super with honey off and placed some of that plastic corrigated "cardboard" ( that is used for political signs during elections) on top of the brood box and then put the supper on top of this so there is a barrier between the brood boxes and the super. I sometime do this separation one evening and use the OA the next morning. Any bees in the top super have an upper entrance so there is a means to get out and they tend to leave this box and go back into the main hive brood chamber. The next morning I use the OA vapor. I have been removing the "cardboard" about 15 minutes after using the OA and recombining the super with the brood chamber. 

Hopefully all the OA vapor has precipitated out on everything in the brood nest and the honey in the super is OK.


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## jcolon (Sep 12, 2014)

Isn't OA half life fairly short anyways? 



orthoman said:


> I pull the super with honey off and placed some of that plastic corrigated "cardboard" ( that is used for political signs during elections) on top of the brood box and then put the supper on top of this so there is a barrier between the brood boxes and the super. I sometime do this separation one evening and use the OA the next morning. Any bees in the top super have an upper entrance so there is a means to get out and they tend to leave this box and go back into the main hive brood chamber. The next morning I use the OA vapor. I have been removing the "cardboard" about 15 minutes after using the OA and recombining the super with the brood chamber.
> 
> Hopefully all the OA vapor has precipitated out on everything in the brood nest and the honey in the super is OK.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

I wouldn't sell it, but I wouldn't hesitate to consume it myself. Any type of acid will stabilize over time. I don't believe OA has a very long half life.


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## jcolon (Sep 12, 2014)

Plus is in a lot of fruits and veggies. I would not hesitate and eat it myself if need be. 


Harley Craig said:


> I wouldn't sell it, but I wouldn't hesitate to consume it myself. Any type of acid will stabilize over time. I don't believe OA has a very long half life.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

I am in the same situation as the OP, I left a medium super of honey on all my hives this fall because the brood boxes were a little light on food storage after the fall flow. I need to do my final OA treatment in about a week or two, and I am debating whether or not to remove the supers before I treat. What I am thinking is that if I leave it on without isolating it from the rest of the hive with a barrier of some sort (sheet metal, cardboard, etc.) won't the bees just consume the honey before spring anyway? Or I could leave the super on the hive well into spring and let them raise brood in it which certainly will use up the honey, and then I can resume using it as a honey super when the flows kick in next year. At that point I think there would be no problem with significant OA contamination still left in the supers. Opinions?


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

We did that this year.

What we did: Pull the super with honey, set it aside and cover it so nothing bothers the bees. You can use a towel or whatever you have to cover the super. We used the inner cover.
Then treat the hive. Wait a little while, half hour or so, before you return the super to the hive.
The bees in the super will not be carrying many mites so do not worry. Don't over think it.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

If I get to the point of treating with OAV while honey is on again (I don't see that happening)... I will be cracking boxes and putting some newspaper in, then treating, and walking away. I don't have the time to yank supers and set them aside and wait for a half hour. Got stuff to do and other hives to visit.


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

jwcarlson said:


> If I get to the point of treating with OAV while honey is on again (I don't see that happening)... I will be cracking boxes and putting some newspaper in, then treating, and walking away. I don't have the time to yank supers and set them aside and wait for a half hour. Got stuff to do and other hives to visit.



Oh yea, you have a life. I've heard about those...........


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

jwcarlson said:


> If I get to the point of treating with OAV while honey is on again (I don't see that happening)... I will be cracking boxes and putting some newspaper in, then treating, and walking away.  I don't have the time to yank supers and set them aside and wait for a half hour. Got stuff to do and other hives to visit.


Exactly. Not only that, but if you do one last treatment around Thanksgiving (which many do) the weather isn't always perfect, at least in my area you can count on cold weather, maybe very cold. Opening hives up and splitting boxes apart in those kind of conditions doesn't appeal to me, especially when there is the chance you could be breaking up the cluster if it is spanning two boxes, the brood chamber and honey super.


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## Arnie (Jan 30, 2014)

There are 4 options;

Treat with the super on.
Pull the super and treat.
Slide a piece of cardboard or something between super and hive bodies, then treat.
Don't use OAV. 

Pick one.


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

The EPA states that you do not treat with honey supers on. However, if you just plan on leaving it for the bees to consume, you're fine. There are studies that show that OA levels in treated hives return to pretreatment levels shortly after treatment. On that basis, I'd not worry but the EPA rules.


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## Mosherd1 (Apr 17, 2011)

jmgi said:


> Exactly. Not only that, but if you do one last treatment around Thanksgiving (which many do) the weather isn't always perfect, at least in my area you can count on cold weather, maybe very cold. Opening hives up and splitting boxes apart in those kind of conditions doesn't appeal to me, especially when there is the chance you could be breaking up the cluster if it is spanning two boxes, the brood chamber and honey super.


Yes I guess this was my main concern, I don't really mind the lifting of the supers so much but was more concerned about the cluster being disturbed. I was going to do my last treatment around Christmas but maybe I will just do my second on a decently warm day around thanksgiving if we get a warm enough one. Thanks everyone,
-Dave


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

popping the lid and looking with a flashlight will tell you if they are spanning the gap to the super.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

If the frames of honey in the super are capped, then there is nothing to worry about. The acid crystals will only be on the cappings surface and will not effect the honey. The bees will have everything scrubbed long before you ever think about removing them next year.

If there are open cells of honey just make sure the bees consume it all before next spring. I believe the EPA's guidelines are based on concerns related to treating with supers on which have open cells of honey or nectar that the acid crystals can settle on.


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## Bob J (Feb 25, 2013)

Agree with Mike.... Since it is well known that OAV doesn't penetrate the caps, capped honey should not be affected....


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