essential oil of thyme

[feral.farmer]

Anyone have success with treating for mites by introducing essential oil of thyme into the hive in a square perimeter around the cluster? Some swear by fogging with it, though i believe that was Thymol and not straight essential oil of thyme...the fogging seems to work alright for folks. But I'm interested in treating my hives with just the oil itself dropped onto four small pieces of absorbent material tacked onto the top bars and arranged in a square/rectangular perimeter around the primary cluster. I've heard that all entrances and ventilated tops/bottoms are reduced to concentrate the fumes inside the hive and that the thyme oil configuration stays in the hive for approx two days during preferably warm and sunny weather (but not hot). Any input, experience with this method or alternative methods using thyme oil in the hive would be appreciated...including recipes for fogging with natural oils. I don't use chemicals in my hives.

Also is there any reason NOT to do a preemptive dusting with powdered sugar for mites, as long as the weather isn't too warm? I've not checked my drop count all season and thought it couldn't hurt. :confused:

thanks,
ff

[dragonfly]

I'm not an expert on treating hives with thymol, but I do use essential oils in feedings, and I would be very careful using straight essential oils in a hive. If I were going to use the method you are talking about, I would incorporate the oils into another base oil (maybe mineral, safflower, canola, jojoba or something similar).

[BEES4U]

Thymolated syrup formula

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FYI: You can do a seach in the menue bar. It's # 6 from the left.

FYI: This is from Randy O. site.
Thymolated syrup formula

Update: this strength of thymolated syrup does not appear to control nosema! I am currently undertaking a trial at 3x strength. My current recommendation is to use FumagilB in syrup per label directions.



OK, here’s how you make the premix. You can use either ethyl or isopropyl alcohol. The cheapest and easiest is 91% isopropyl alcohol from the drug store (70% will also work, but won’t dissolve as much thymol). Isopropyl alcohol is relatively nontoxic to insects, and the small amount won’t hurt your bees. I wouldn’t use denatured ethanol, since they add nasty “ingestion deterrents.” Theoretically, you can dissolve 1g of thymol in 1ml of pure alcohol, but in practice this is difficult, and the solution doesn’t mix well with water.

What works well is to add 12.5 grams of thymol crystals 88ml of of 91% isopropyl alcohol (total volume = 100ml) (from the drug store, isopropyl alcohol is not harmful to bees at this concentration; 70% works, but not as well; 151 proof Everclear grain alcohol or 160 proof vodka works great, and is less toxic to bees than isopropyl).
Add 2ml of premix per gallon of syrup (2 tsp per 5 gallons). Slowly pour the premix into the hot water that you’re using to mix syrup (watch the fumes) and stir vigorously until thoroughly mixed. Note that thymol sinks in alcohol, but floats in water, and will rise to the surface of the syrup until it is thoroughly dissolved by stirring. The premix can also be added to the bottom of a tank as you fill it with warm HFCS. Caution: you should always wear nitrile gloves when handling thymol, if for nothing else, to remind you not to rub your eyes! If you do get it on your skin, wash it off with warm water—cold water won’t dissolve it.

OK, OK, I’ll do even more math for you, in order to help you to avoid mistakes. Here’s a really simple way of making the premix. Take a 1 pint (473ml) bottle of 91% alcohol, mark the fill level, then pour the alcohol out. Then weigh 59g of thymol crystals, and pour them carefully into the empty bottle. Then pour about three quarters of the alcohol back in, recap, and shake until the alcohol’s dissolved. Then top off back the the original fill level with alcohol. You now have a bottle of premix that will thymolate (dontcha just love the sound of that word?) 236 gallons of syrup. Similarly for a liter bottle, put in 125g thymol, and top off to 1 liter with alcohol. For God’s sake, immediately relabel the bottle so that no one rubs it on their skin (I guarantee you, they're not gonna drink it)! Any of these premixes can be added at the rate of 2ml per gallon of syrup.
Regards,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries.
__________________
Do it right the first time to save time, material and money.

[AnRBees]

I've been using Red Thyme Oil mixed with 50% powered sugar and50% shorting. We use 15 cc's of Red Thyme, 5 cc's winter green oil , and 10 cc's of tree tea oil added to 9 lbs of powered sugar and 9 pounds of shorting. we use no chemicals and haven't lost a colonly in two years now.

[BEES4U]

:thumbsup:Thank you for the information!
Is the red thyme stronger than thyme?

I will try out your formula on a few hives.

Regards,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

[feral.farmer]

Thanks for the good news....but I'm not clear as to what "shorting" is. Shorting? Also once you've got all of the ingredients combined, how do you apply it to your hives? Thanks!
FF of Swarming Hordes Apiaries

[BEES4U]

Crisco is one of the oldest shortnings on the market. it is a cotton seed oil that has been hydrogenated so that is a solid at room temperatures.
It is one of those fats to ovoid for a heathy heart.
Regards,
Ernie Lucas Apiaries