Perpiñán Vaporizer for Professional Beekeepers

01 · HOW IT WORKS

Cup at temperature, dose and tube in the entrance

Plugged into the mains, the element keeps the cup at working temperature as you move along the apiary: load the dose of medicine, put the tube in the entrance and fire; the vapour leaves through the 10 × 6 mm flattened tip and stays inside. In battery units every shot cools the cup and you wait for the next cycle; here the pace is set by loading and moving to the next entrance. In end-of-season treatments of 50 hives or more, that is the difference of a working day.

02 · THE TUBE INSIDE

Bend down and dose in full, do not sublimate in the air

The maker aims it at working standing up, with the unit at the waist and the tube lowered to the entrance while already vaporising: part of the product is lost in the air and the tendency is to raise the dose to compensate. Oxalic has a narrow range, and dosing by eye harms the bees. Our recommendation is to put the tube in the entrance before firing: a little slower, but the prescribed dose reaches the hive whole.

03 · THE TEMPERATURE

Adjustable thermostat and a board to calibrate

Below its point oxalic does not vaporise well; above it decomposes and loses efficacy. The thermostat lets you set the point to the medicine’s prescription. Field check before the round: fire a dose with a board about 10 cm from the nozzle and the vapour must leave a crisp white mark; if it does not mark, raise; if it darkens or burns, lower. A minute of calibration and off you go.

04 · MADE IN SPAIN

Own workshop, replaceable parts

Small-scale workshop production: the surge protector was added after field reports of unstable rural grids and site generators. Nozzle, wiring and thermostat are replaceable; it is not a throwaway unit. It needs 230 V mains or a generator of at least 2,000 W: for isolated apiaries with no power and no wish to carry a generator, this is not the format.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The sublimator is supplied with its tube and thermostat; the medicine, the mask with ABEK filters (3175, 3173, 3177) and the generator come separately.

⚠ PRECAUTIONS

Oxalic vapour is corrosive to airways and eyes: mask with ABEK filters and goggles or a full-face mask, and downwind. In Spain only veterinary medicines registered for sublimation are applied, under prescription; bulk oxalic acid is not authorised. Entrance closed for the time the leaflet states.