Are slow-release oxalic acid strips the solution?

The solution to what?The solution to the three-part problem that increasingly faces beekeepers wanting to minimise Varroa mite populations and reduce their winter colony losses.These are:Increasing resistance — and the geographic spread of this resistance — to the 'hard chemical' miticides like Apivar and Apistan {{1}}.The inability of oxalic acid (OA) to penetrate the cap on sealed brood.The absence of a midwinter brood break in many temperate regions, something which will be exacerbated as the climate continues to warm.In fact, there may be a fourth part to the problem, the desire of beekeepers to avoid the use of hard chemicals altogether (due both to resistance and the wax-soluble residues they leave behind) in favour of organic treatments.In the absence of Varroa-resistant colonies, at least two annual miticide treatments are typically required:A late summer treatment, applied after the honey harvest and (ideally) before the production of the long-lived winter bees that will…