Oxalic Acid Trickling.
If beekeepers do not produce candles, propolis tincture or honey liquor in winter, and sell bee products at Christmas markets, the winter months are an almost uneventful time for them.
Assuming that the colonies are now brood-free 21 days after the first light frost in Heilbronn, the garden beekeeper today performed his last official act with his bees in 2014: drizzling the
honeycomb lanes with oxalic acid solution to combat the varroa mite. The aim is to reduce their number as much as possible.
These small beasts no longer have the possibility to hide in the brood cells, but sit on the bees. There they are exposed to the acid without protection and fall down within the next few
days.
The garden beekeeper could also see for himself that all colonies, including the rather small September swarm, are still alive and make a healthy impression.
On 22.12.2014 at 00:03 CET is winter solstice. An important point in time, because from then on the days will get longer again and we are heading for spring and summer. The bees register this and
start brooding again to be prepared for the first early bloomers.
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