Thymol for Early Summer Varroa Control

[edenhillapiaries]

Hello All,

Does anyone have any experience using thymol for early summer varroa control. I am using the thymomite strips at one strip cut in half per hive. I used these last fall and was quite pleased with the results. Most of my hives are still quite clean except for a few colonies that seemed to have quite a few varroa in the drone cells.

Here in Northern Michigan we have a late honey flow so the use of these strips will not interfere with that. I have also heard that thymol can be hard on the brood,etc. but so can varroa. Has anyone else tried this approach? The strips have been on about 10 days now and the temps are just starting to hit the mid to upper 70's. Thymol is also supposed to help with chalkbrood control so I am interested to see how it works on that front. I have a couple of hives with it, we had a long, cool and wet spring this year, and I have thought about treating them. I was going to treat for varroa with a more traditional method, shop towels with certain products soaked in, but I thought I would stick with the thymol.

Any and all opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jason

[BEES4U]

shop towels with certain products soaked in,
certain products
Most of the certain products will become absorbed into the bees wax and they are a larvacide.
You are better off with approved materials and methods that have a research base.
Ernie

[Velbert]

HI Jason


Was wondering where did you get your strips i was thinking about trying them.

thank you
Velbert

[edenhillapiaries]

I got the strips here http://www.members.shaw.ca/orioleln/. I was pleased with them when I used them last year. Apply one strip (cut in half and placed over broodnest) to each hive twice (three weeks apart). The cost per strip is $1.25 each so to treat a hive it costs $2.50. Not bad. Can also use them (after dilution with alcohol) in syrup to prevent mold.

I was hoping to hear from any others who have used this product (or one like it). I agree that even though it may be a little hard on brood, it is by no means as harsh (and persistent) as "certain chemicals". My varroa management plan includes using thymol strips, oxalic acid (vaporized in winter), and maybe even formic. I would love to hear from anyone who has used these approaches in the summer.

Thanks,
Jason

[Ben Brewcat]

I use Apiguard (thymol gel) and like it a lot. Sometimes if it's hot it seems to cause a small amount of brood mortality, but infrequently. It does cause a great deal of fanning in the colony, you can hear the roar just walking up to them. It's effective, low-impact and easy to apply (though a full treatment does take three total trips to the apiary). As an IPMer I practice drone culling which does 90% of my controls, with Apiguard as the "big gun" up my sleeve.

[Sundance]

Can also use them (after dilution with alcohol) in syrup to prevent mold.

I would contact the maker of these strips to make
darn sure what other products are used in making
the strips before feeding them back to the bees.

For feed the crystals are lots cheaper and safer
in my mind.

[edenhillapiaries]

Thanks for the concern about the thymol in the syrup. The method I used came from the manufacture. I like these strips for varroa, and that is mainly what I use them for. They did work, after following the directions, for mold prevention but I would rather use the Honey-B-Healthy type of products as I think they have more to add.

I appreciate the info and the responses. This is how one learns. I have heard the fanning from the hives that I put the thymol in. It was about 10 days to two weeks ago. The hives seem to be doing well and quite active. They are hauling pollen, etc. I may not add the second strip as the temps have went up and I also don't want the honey to take on a thymol taste as I will be adding supers soon. Also don't want to affect the brood laying etc too much. I have also been considering using the drone comb trap out, but I do not have a large enough freezer to put all the comb in to kill them. Any other ideas on how to do this?

Thanks,
Jason

[sjj]

Hello All,

Does anyone have any experience using thymol for early summer varroa control. ...


1 g Thymol Crystals (white) + 3 Liter Water (hot) + 3 kg Sugar + 5x15 g honey.

(in 1 Liter Ziploc bags).

[edenhillapiaries]

SSJ,

Do you add this just once? Sounds like you are feeding the bees the thymol. How has this worked out?

Thanks,
Jason

[Axtmann]

IMO 1g crystals as a mite treatment is useless. Thymol starts to evaporate at a temperature 23ºC/75ºF and melts at 52ºC/126ºF. If you mix 1g Thymol with hot water the Thymol evaporates before it comes into the hive.
To solve Thymol you need oil or alcohol and not water.

Sorry, I don’t want to argue but with the formula from sjj you get a smell of Thymol in your mixture but that’s about it. With a lot of luck it stops mold from growing in sugar water, but if you boil the water you will have an even better result.
1g Thymol has no impact to anything in your hive.

I use Thymomite for a few years with a very good success.

[sjj]

SSJ,

Do you add this just once? Sounds like you are feeding the bees the thymol. How has this worked out?

Thanks,
Jason

I give them one bag (~ 800 mL) of this syrup at a time,
3 or 4 times,
4 - 7 days apart,

like this:
http://www.beesource.com/resources/elements-of-beekeeping/ziplock-baggie-feeder/

It is very reasonable to apply something else with thymol at the same time, too.
From underneath, on the bottom board.

I take precautions against robbing.

The thymol syrup is not my routine.
We can use the formic acid here, which I prefer, when it is not too hot outside. Normal, it is possible in the middle of August.

I observe the hives and test them at the end of June, to decide if they need it.

I do not overestimate the summer medications, no matter of what kind.
Their efficiency is not very high at this time of the year, but they may be very necessary for the bees to survive.
We must do something concrete late in the autumn or early in the winter, when there is minimum Brut inside.
I do not overestimate the effieciency of these late medications either.

[edenhillapiaries]

This has been a strange spring so far. We (Northwestern Michigan) had been having unseasonably cool weather up until now. In the past week it has turned hot and stayed in the upper 70's low 80's. I went to check on my hives last night and the ones that had the thymomite strips had pulled them out of the hive. They were also bearding a bit more than the others. I am going to check them today to see how disruptive the thymol may have been. It was pretty hot and humid yesterday, so I was not surprised to see bearding. A couple of hives that were not treated were also bearding, but the ones with thymol definitely had more.

I am glad to hear that others have been having success with thymomite. I had good success overwintering last year, and just ordered enough of the strips to do all of my hives this fall. The only thing I may do different this year is that I may also winter treat a few hives with oxalic acid. My buddy bought a vaporizer and I would like to try doing a few hives to see if there is any improvement in varroa control.

Thanks,
Jason