fogging = roasting?

[sarah]

hi there, this evening i fogged my hives with food grade mineral iol using my black flag fogger. this is my third treatment, i've been doing it every 5-7 days. this evening after i fogged i sat down to watch the commotion and within seconds bees were dragging dead and dying bees out of the hive. the dead ones looked darker and shinier, almost as if i'd burnt the fuzz off them. when i fog i put the nozzle thing about three inches in front of the entrance and then blast them for about 6 or 7 seconds, i thought this was right. has anyone else ever had this happen? thank you, sarah.

[scottybee]

Hi sarah
I'v ben fogging for a couple years now . I did the same thing when I started. Now I give them a little warning by giving them a blast from about 3 feet to drive them inside ,then move in closer .Seems I get less casualties that way . Screened bottom boards are a definate advantage for applying fgmo fog. Hope this helps!
Scott

[Michael Bush]

I go for more like six inches from the entrance, or under the screened bottom board. I have not seen any hauling of dead bees afterwards.

The fog is very hot right as it comes out but is pretty cool just a few inches after it exits the nozzle.

When the nozzle gets clogged it sometimes squirts hot oil out. Do you think that may be the problem?

The hot oil does not cool off like the fog does. The fog is very small particles with a lot of surface area. When the nozzle isn't working right or the coil isn't hot enough then it sometimes squirts hot oil and it does not have the surface area to dissipate the heat.

[rjshimmel]

Hi Sara, your fog should be white, if your fog is blue it is probably to hot. Practice with your fogger to get the white fog. Don't put your hand in front of the fogger, the fogger can turn into a flame thrower, if you tilt it down, and have to much oil in the tube.

[sarah]

thank you all for your replies and suggestions. i think i am fogging from too close, based on what you said, michael. i dont think that the fog is getting to hot; the thing does leak a bit if i am not careful to keep it level but i think that if it was flame throwing i'd notice that. i have the screened bottom boards but i do not have enough clearance to fog from beneath. i will fog from further back and give them more of a warning from now on. thanks again everyone. sarah.

[Michael Bush]

>i think that if it was flame throwing i'd notice that.

Yes you would notice. Usually there is a muffled explosion in the hive. http://www.beesource.com/ubb/smile.gif