). The strips also absorb water vapour inside the hive when humidity is high and drip again a few days .. just a few drops.
Thanks for the info, I've stored them in a container although I don't see crystalisation as yetHi, the strips do not really dry, they leak surplus solution for a few days, and depending on humidity may take up water vapour from the air and then feel a bit like sand (crystalised OA) on the surface. That is when I deem them to be ok. I store them in a plastic container with a lid (ice cream containers are great, you just have to eat a lot of ice cream..
What kind of strip material have you used, never seen this before...
These strips are from Hive World NZ In Porirua, I hadn't seen these before but looks like recycled card or something similar. I see they have the more common dry wall paper for sale on their site now.
Hi, I heated gycerine to 70 degrees, put in oxalic then got it back to 70 degrees before removing from heat and soaking strips. It didn't take long to soak through, I left them soaking for 40 mins I guess, then hung them.
If you are using what seems to be the most common ratio 60.40 you probably dont need to take the combined mix quite that high. 57ish should be enough but will require either a bit of stirring or time at that temp. There is some thought that too much temp may not be a good thing.
Thanks I have been using 60/40 with very satisfactory results. But enjoyed the info above, always learning.As a follower of Otto's wisdom I use 60/40 Gly/OxAc. But my 'forwhatitsworth' gut feeling says 50/50 might be more or less equally suited. I assume that it is the powdery oxalic acid surface of the strips that determines the efficiency of the treatment. With relative humidities of anywhere between 50-80% in a hive the strips take up so much water because of the hygroscopic nature of glycerine that they drip for a few days. The second thing that happens is that, because OxAc is way more soluble in glycerine than in water (about 4-5x) the solubility of the OxAc decreases in the Gly/water mixture and a powdery deposit is formed on the strip surface. In other words the strips contain now a supersaturated solution where part of the OxAc has become solid. From the physics of this process it doesn't seem to matter much whether one uses 60/40 or 50/50.... but hey, I am retired now, who knows what my knowledge is still worth anymore...
I am not sure that I would ever be forgiven if I used one of my wives Tupperware containers for bee stuff
Yes, that might be an issue... I would be concerned not as much about volatility, as well about the possibility of oxalic acid being split into formic acid when temperatures exceed ~ 105°C. Not as much for the bees, but formic acid is way more aggressive and corrosive then OA.
Why would you have formic acid any where near where you are cooking Oxalic acid.??
It is a known chemical reaction, but only happens quantitatively at elevated temperatures. Normally the oxalic acid - glycerine mix is only warmed up to max 60-65°C in order to dissolve the OA.
Sorry I read it wrong. Split / spilt.
