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menthol application

3K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Barry 
#1 ·
i have some questions about menthol application..... i am following george imirie's recommendations...

i placed menthol in the hive today. on top of the brood frames.

i know that the menthol is supposed to vaporize, but is it normal for the bees to appear over come? about 300 bees outside the entrance the afternoon in a loose cluster, some disoriented and others just sitting there...

i know that it is important to leave the menthol treatment in the hive for the alloted time, but AM I KILLING MY BEES?

also, if i have really warm weather and this first packet vaporizes in 3-4 days, do i put another packet in there to finish out the total time period? or is it amount based?, not time period based?

thanks

george
 
#2 ·
Hi George -

I guess this is a bit too late for any immediate help, but, how did you make out with your bees?

I have never used Menthol so I can't speak from experience. After reading up on it again, it does appear to be quite temperature dependant. From Richard Bonney's book, HIVE MANAGEMENT:

"At temperatures between 60º and 80º, it should be placed above the brood nest. Above 80º, it should be placed on the bottom board. Otherwise, the bees will be driven from the hive by the fumes."

One would then gather that it is "normal" for the bees to be repelled by the fumes and want to get away from them. Was the Menthol above the brood and 80º or above? Could be the reason the bees were out of the hive.

As far as amount based or time based, it appears to be both.

"The life cycle of an individual mite runs fourteen days. This is from the time an egg hatches, matures to become an adult, mates, and lays eggs of its own. Menthol kills only the adult mites. To be effective then, menthol must be in the hive, and vaporizing, for fourteen consecutive warm days. Otherwise, some adult mites will not be killed and will go on to perpetuate the infestation. If cool weather intervenes, the treatment must be continued."

Reasons I don't use menthol is its unstableness due to being temperature dependant, potential harm to the bees, and there being other ways to deal with this mite through breeding.

Regards,
Barry
 
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