# What time of day to apply Oxalic Acid



## Axtmann (Dec 29, 2002)

If I treat my hives with a oxalic vaporizer I do it early in the morning or late in the evening. After the evaporation of the acid the hive should be closed for at least 10 minutes. During the day the home coming workers would sit all over the hive because of the closed entrance.


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Larry, I concur with Axtmann and would like to add that I do mine in the morning hours when most of the bees are still in the hive.......Bill


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

I treat as much as possible when bees are not flying. You want to get all the mites you can. I have quit closing the hive up as I have tried both and see no difference in mite drops.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I close the hives in the evening and treat them first thing in the morning on a day when they will be flying.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Early morning seems to work best, you can get all the bees this way. With a small apiary arrive at the yard as you begin getting the first light of the day, and before starting close off all the entrances with cloth or paper towels to trap all of the bees inside the boxes (this would be with SBB's so they have ventilation while waiting). As the sun comes up you have plenty of daylight available as you work through the hives. 

Late evening is a bit tougher. You will still have returning bees right up until dark and you could also have bearding to deal with. This time of day could also leave you fumbling around in the dark with some of the hives. Oxalic Acid Vapor is nasty stuff, I think it's important to have light and see clearly what you're doing.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

If you have bearding you can get them to move inside by putting an empty super (either really empty, or with plastic foundation) on the bottom of the stack. If it isn't full of foundation then you need to take it off sooner, but actually unless there is a Flow with a capital F going (and they have no where else to go) they usually won't build much wild comb on the bottom. Don't use wax foundation or they will eat it. I found that out.


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