Beekeeping on the Cheap
DIY Varroa Treatment Strips
Beekeeping: Expensive or Not?
Everybody says beekeeping is expensive. Yeah, I guess it is at first…but after the initial investment in hive bodies, frames & a suit it doesn’t have to cost much money. From discussions with other beekeepers and online groups, it seems that the top three ongoing expenses are
Bees
Feeding
Treating for varroa mites
Each of these categories of expenses can be done on the cheap:
After buying your first colony to get started, don’t buy any more! Split your colony or catch swarms.
Some beekeepers spend a tremendous amount of money on sugar for feeding their bees during times of dearth or winter. I suspect that beekeepers are feeding more often than strictly necessary. A local experienced beekeeper I know is fond of saying “Make em work for it!”. I’m going to take that advice, decreasing how often I feed, and focus on good resource management among the colonies. When feeding is necessary, I’m a fan of buying in bulk. At last check in June of this year, Sams Club sells 25 lb bags of sugar for $17.
Last year I spent $25 on Apivar to treat for varroa mites- that was 4 plastic strips - sufficient for one colony, but pricey if you want to expand your apiary! Today I’m going to tell you how to economically treat for mites with oxalic acid.
Versatile Oxalic Acid
I’ve been going to Open Apiary sessions with my local bee club, and am picking up a lot of great information from experienced beekeepers. Mite treatment, among many other topics, comes up for discussion often.
For continued effectiveness, you don’t want to use the same treatment every time or the mites can become desensitized and the treatments no longer work. The cool thing about oxalic acid: it can be applied in a variety of forms, and gets us around that tricky situation.
The Plan:
Varroa are in colonies everywhere - they’re unavoidable. I’m taking a prophylactic approach to mite treatment.
April: Oxalic Acid Strips
August: Oxalic Acid Drip
December: Oxalic Acid Sublimation
DIY Oxalic Acid Strips
Making your own cardboard oxalic acid strips is very affordable.
Cost
11”x17” chipboard (50 pt): $14.99 for 10 sheets; each sheet makes seven 1.5” wide strips; works out to $0.22/strip
Vegetable Glycerin Oil (in the pharmacy section): $5.24 for a 6 oz bottle ($0.88/oz)
Oxalic Acid: $14.95 for 2 lb ($0.47/oz)
Water: Free!
Kitchen Supplies/Scrap Containers You Probably Already Have: Free!
I made a 7 strip batch for $4.79, which works out to $0.69/strip (compare to $6.25 per Apivar strip)
70 g = 2.47 oz oxalic acid = $1.16
70 ml = 2.37 oz glycerin = $2.09
7 strips 1.5” wide chipboard = $1.54
Recommended Protection
Gloves - It’s an acid; protect your skin! If you don’t have disposable gloves, kitchen dish gloves work great too.
Respirator - Oxalic acid can cause kidney issues if you don’t take precautions! If you don’t own a respirator, there’s a good chance a neighbor or friend will have one they’d lend you.
Baking soda - Have some on hand to deactivate any leftover acid.
Recipe (Scaled for Batch Size)
7 Strips:
70 g oxalic acid
70 ml glycerin
35 ml water
21 strips:
210 g oxalic acid
210 ml glycerin
105 ml water
35 strips:
350 g oxalic acid
350 ml glycerin
175 ml water
45 strips:
450 g oxalic acid
450 ml glycerin
225 ml water
Oxalic acid strip process and recipe were originally designed by researcher Randy Oliver. Many beekeepers have been following his lead, tweaking the recipe and process for their needs/preferences.
Process
This process should be done outside using protective gear. It’s best to lay out all your tools and ingredients before beginning.
Note: I used a double boiler set up because I didn’t have a stainless steel pan I was willing to mix this in. You shouldn’t mix oxalic acid in a coated pan.
Once you have all your supplies readily at hand and are wearing PPE:
Slowly pour your oxalic acid into the water. Stir.
Add mixture to pot or double boiler.
Slowly pour in glycerin. Stir.
Continue stirring until solids are well absorbed. It should go from cloudy with solids at the bottom to an almost clear liquid. See videos below for examples. *Keep mixture under 160 degrees Fahrenheit.*
Place chipboard strips in your soaking container. Pour mixed liquid over strips.
Let set overnight before applying up to 4 strips per brood box.
If it’s cloudy, the mixture isn’t ready…keep stirring!
You’ll know it’s ready when the mixture is clear and there are no obvious particles. Keep it under 160 degrees - oxalic acid starts to decompose at this temperature.
Clean Up
Use baking soda to clean up leftover acid on tools & kitchen supplies. If you’re not sure if the acid is totally gone, sprinkle some water on top - if it bubbles, then the baking soda is reacting with residual acid.
Use Oxalic Acid Strips to Treat for Varroa Mites
Wearing gloves, drape up to 4 strips over frames in each brood box. Alternate strip positioning on frames. There is no need to remove the strips after a certain time period - the bees will chew through and remove them from the colony on their own.
This hive looks small because it was a new walkaway split (I moved the queen as if it was an artificial swarm). The original colony was left queenless, but with plenty of new eggs to turn into a replacement queen.
I also treated the original colony 7 days after the split (once I knew they already had a capped queen cell) - experienced beekeepers advised not to do it any sooner in case the strips messed with the smell of the hive during that critical time.
Today you learned how to make oxalic acid strips on the cheap. The other two oxalic acid treatments (sublimation & drip) use the same ingredients and are very simple. I’ll make follow up posts detailing those methods as the bee season progresses!
