MAQS and Oxallic .... To much or beneficial ?

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As the title... Had been told and thought this double treatment was the way to go, but being told is too intense

Love to hear from those who have tried both and how their hives have done the following Spring / Summer ?
 
As the title... Had been told and thought this double treatment was the way to go, but being told is too intense

Love to hear from those who have tried both and how their hives have done the following Spring / Summer ?

You mean MAQS at the end of the autumn and oxalic in the winter?
 
Yes, I do :)

Ok. Formic acid and oxalic acid has been used 15 years widely in the world. You want to hear about results Why? There are lots of following reseaches in google, old and new.

.
 
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MAQS on 4 colonies beginning of July (half dose.....mistakenly on two so those had Autumn thymol as well)
Thymol on other 3 that did not get any MAQS
All treated with sublimated Oxalic in December.
All colonies humming and flying on good days ....haven't looked in the box.
Negligible drop post oxalic except the two that had only MAQS in July which dropped 100 and 200 in first day.
No great number of dead bees after December treatment.
Will have to wait till Spring to see whether Queens are OK.
I think the NBU is wrong.
How can you treat with oxalic vapour four times in fifteen/twenty days will no ill effect on the bees but cause problems if you add MAQS to the equation?
 
Ok. Formic acid and oxalic acid has been used 15 years widely in the world. You want to hear about results Why? There are lots of following reseaches in google, old and new.

.

It's because somebody's bee inspector told them that MAQS and Oxalic are both organic acids, work in the same way so cause ill effects if both used.
 
Thanks Eric :)

Here's hoping, will look for .... Hopefully.... Plenty of Pollen coming in with the advent of spring forage, which should signal Brood and colony buildup !
 
Don't want to tempt fate but my summers MAQS and winter oxacylic don't appear to have done harm. Probably get better answers in April when most will have opened colonies up
 
Three colonies taken into winter. Had the following treatments:
July MAQs. Not a great drop but treated because monitoring suggested needed.
October Apiguard (still v mild). Drops in the hundreds.
Jan Oxalic (dribble). Drops in the hundreds.
Over last few days each colony with plenty of flying bees taking pollen in.
Assuming all is well (!!) until weather consistently warmer when first inspection will take place and nadired shallows removed.
 
Three colonies taken into winter. Had the following treatments:
July MAQs. Not a great drop but treated because monitoring suggested needed.
October Apiguard (still v mild). Drops in the hundreds.
Jan Oxalic (dribble). Drops in the hundreds.
Over last few days each colony with plenty of flying bees taking pollen in.
Assuming all is well
(!!) until weather consistently warmer when first inspection will take place and nadired shallows removed.

Same as all mine...
but without the additives.
 
Additives?? Rather not leave thousands of mites in there so treated as I thought necessary
Anyway, congrats on your healthy bees.
 
Three colonies taken into winter. Had the following treatments:
July MAQs. Not a great drop but treated because monitoring suggested needed.
October Apiguard (still v mild). Drops in the hundreds.
Jan Oxalic (dribble). Drops in the hundreds.
Over last few days each colony with plenty of flying bees taking pollen in.
Assuming all is well (!!) until weather consistently warmer when first inspection will take place and nadired shallows removed.

Sounds like a bit of overkill to me ... but I don't treat at all .. I have lots of healthy looking bees flying at the moment, lots of pollen going in and biggish colonies have all come through well so far.

I just wonder whether so much treatment is actually helping your bees ? Not looking to start a war and I'm certainly not evangelical about not treating ... have you considered OA sublimation as an alternative this year ... looks promising with 97% mite kill rate in the right conditions.
 
Rather not leave thousands of mites in there so treated as I thought necessary

Neither would I, well done for keeping on top of the mite situation, sounds like your doing fine with your bees, hope all is well on first inspections and you have a good season.
 
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Had been told and thought this double treatment was the way to go, but being told is too intense.

I think treating with multiple treatments that are meant as comprehensvie treatments on their own could be a little intense for the bees, if they're the same bees... but if they're not the same bees (i.e. there's a 2-3 month gap between treatments), then I don't see the difficulty.
 
It's because somebody's bee inspector told them that MAQS and Oxalic are both organic acids, work in the same way so cause ill effects if both used.

As quoted here https://ealingbees.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/bee-inspector-advice-on-usage-of-oxalic-acid-and-maqs/

I'm not aware of any published research on combination treatments. There is research that shows repeated oxalic sublimation is better tolerated that repeated dribble of oxalic solution. So delivery method is important and with the number if variations in acids, delivery and timing it's not easy to design a comprehensive study.
 
It's because somebody's bee inspector told them that MAQS and Oxalic are both organic acids, work in the same way so cause ill effects if both used.

And, sadly it demonstrates that bee inspectors are not 100% reliable sources of scientific information 100% of the time.
 

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