Almond Extract

[JMP]

Hello all. I know there have been some posts about this in the past but I thought I would take a chance and ask again. Have any of you used almond extract on your fume boards? I understand it may not work as quickly some of the commercially available products but I have some handy and don't have lots of supers to remove. Thoughts and comments appreciated. Thanks! -John

[dixiebooks]

Is what you have the real almond extract or artificial? -js

[JMP]

James, its McCormick brand pure almond extract. Contains water, 32% alcohol and oil of bitter almond.

[predsfan]

I have used the artificial almond extract the last 2 spring harvests and it does work. It's not fast, but if you're not in a big hurry, it'll do the job. I don't know about the real almond extract tho. I had always read to use the artificial.

[Kelbor]

I have been wondering lately.....
(Not really related but) why do bees hate almond extract (smell?) but love almond trees?

[MarkBee]

I am pretty sure that bitter almond extract is mostly, if not entirely benzaldehyde, it comes from the decompostion of amigdalin which is in almonds, into glucose, cyanide, and benzaldehyde. You can be fairly certain if it's going to be used in food, the "extract" removes the cyanide and probably all of the glucose. Mark

[Mr.Beeman]

Bees have a very keen sense of smell. It becomes quite overwhelming to them so, they leave.

[JMP]

Thanks for the comments and input. I will give it a shot this weekend and let you know how it goes. -John

[JonnyBeeGood]

I'm going to try it this weekend also. How much should I use? I'd like to drive them down from 2 med. supers.

[JMP]

Someone correct me if I am wrong please. JohnnyBeeGood I plan to put the almond extract into a spray bottle and mist the fume board evenly with a few squirts. Will be doing this mid afternoon when the sun is directly over my hives. You will need to put your fume board on the top super first (obviously), remove that super once bees have gone down into next super and then repeat.

[tommyt]

JohnnyBG
If you can lift the 2 supers and place a empty super below them
This will give he bees ample room to move down and not crowd
I find doing this quickens the Drive-down time

[JonnyBeeGood]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the suggestions.

[woodedareas]

I used a commercial product with almond in it. (I contacted the company to determine if it was an oil or another type of almond product but they did not respond. I did this because certain people are allergic to anything dealing with nuts, almonds included. I used the product only on 1 hive and set it aside. That way I could identify which hive was exposed. It is my understanding that persons with nut allergies can have serious reactions from even an extremely small amount of contact with nuts. Be careful using anything with a nut related product and if you do label your jars.It is the supers that are receiving the greatest amount of exposure as the fume board is place on top of them.

[JMP]

Dixiebooks: Does using the artificial extract or natural extract make a difference?

[MarkBee]

Dixiebooks: Does using the artificial extract or natural extract make a difference?

It shouldn't make any difference. benzaldehyde is the same molecule regardless of it's source, it's not like something such as vitamin e, which if obtained as a natural extract contains many isoforms of vitamin e in varying small amounts, all of which are beneficial. Synthetic vitamin e is just the major isoform. Mark

[JMP]

Thanks for the clarification Mark. Hope you have a great weekend.

[dixiebooks]

Dixiebooks: Does using the artificial extract or natural extract make a difference?

Some time ago I researched the possibility of making a "home brewed" bee repellent. From what I was able to gather, a key ingredient was Benzaldehyde, aka Artificial Almond Extract - not the same thing as the real almond extract. Besides, the real stuff would be way to expensive to use as a bee removal agent.

Unfortunately, the artificial stuff was taken off the market for most of us, at the time that I looked into all this. Something about it being an ingredient for meth or something. I just googled it again and it seems to be available now. I don't know if it has been changed some way or if it is available in bulk form.

Perhaps someone will have some evidence to the contrary.

-James