bobbb
10-01-2003, 04:19 AM
Has anyone tried fogging with the burgess fogger. using the thymol oil and mineral oil. Any thoughts on this.Also wondering of mixing oxalic acid in fogger but scaired of hurting bees.
Michael Bush
10-01-2003, 06:19 AM
I assume the caustic nature of the oxalic would damage the fogger. I don't know what the thymol would do, but I'd be afraid of hurting the bees. If I were going to experiment with it. I would try a very small amount of thymol and use it on one hive and watch it closely for any unusual amount of dead bees and also for mite drop. If there's a good mite drop I'd leave it at that, if not, double the amount of thymol and try it again. If you get a lot of dead bees I'd quit or back off on the amount. If you get a lot of mites I'd stop upping it.
I'm not sure if the thymol will disolve well in the mineral oil or work well in the fogger, but if you try it let us know how it goes.
Alex Cantacuzene
10-06-2003, 03:39 PM
Hello Bobbb,
I, as many of the other beekeepers, am hesitant to use chemicals as they seem to leave residues. Right now I am using FGMO with a Burgess fogger once a week and am impressed with the simplicity. What the ultimate results will be I don't know. I am only a newbee hobbyist but if I had many hives I would see it as a tremendous time saver. First of all, the fogger is new and never had any other oil than food grade mineral oil in it. The operation is rather simple, I light it and let it sit a few minutes. I push the green knob to the left after I think it is warming up and give the trigger a little squeeze. After a while some smoke, looks more like steam, comes out and I give it another squeeze. Once I have a good amount of "steam" I give the hives a shot from underneath (I have SBB and remove the sliding inspection tray for this procedure)and give them a good shot. All this takes about 5 seconds per hive and thats it! Right now I have a drop of many Varroa on my inspection tray and I hope it is because of the treatment. Let me emphasize, I am a hobbyist, a new-comer with a lot of enthusiasm, my hives are all SBB and about 18" above the ground and I am still not sure if I am doing the right thing. Next spring will tell the tale. Enough, hopefully this helped. Alex in Kentucky