Is RV Antifreeze an alternative to Veg Oil for SHB tray?

[Matsuri]

I read a suggestion to use RV antifreeze in place of vegetable oil in SHB tray traps to drown them. The logic was the RV antifreeze is non toxic (to humans) and much cheaper. Does anyone have any other information on this. Non toxic to us doesn't necessarily mean the girls can stand it,especially if it evaporates and fumigates the hive. Comments?

[mmmooretx]

Ethelyne glycol is toxic propalyne glycol is food safe. Check the labels propalyne glycol is what is used to cool beer lines in bars.

[mike haney]

Isn't veg oil nontoxic? One would think it would work better because it's,well,OILY so it coats the bugs and won't evaporate.

[Beewildered61]

I use a soap and water mixture, 5 tablespoons of lemon Joy to a gallon of water. I use the same mixture 3 tablespoons to a gallon of water for aphids and spider mites. Where I live, I have heard stories of raccoon tearing up hives to drink the vegetable oil from the tray. In fact I told this to Mr. Freeman when I talked to him on the phone and he suggested the soap and water, saying he had heard about the raccoons.
But this doesn't seem to bother my bees at all...

[hilreal]

Anitfreeze is deadly to dogs and cats....

[Joseph Clemens]

Around here, the water in soap/water would evaporate, in a few hours, or less.

[Seymore]

Think I'll try the soapy water next year. Even if I had to replace it a couple of times a week, it would be much nicer to work with than oil. Cheaper too! Joseph, do you leave your oil trays in all summer? When it gets blistering here, I usually pull mine for the summer. Anyone else do that?

[mike haney]

raccoons attack hives for the bees and larvae. they are a natural predator of HORNET nests. the veg oil story is a misconnection of facts. the speculation about antifreeze is due to a lack of understanding of the mechanism that kills the beetles-the coating of their bodies in oil. non-toxic antifreeze is no better than water-the majority will swim out and return to the hive.

[Seymore]

Mike, soap will suffocate most insects. Not so with hive beetles?

[mike haney]

sorry i didnt mention that soapy water is every bit as effective as oil. i suspect its nowhere near as popular as oil simply because of the previous mentioned evaporation issue. i see many posting questions that start of with "havent been in my hive since last month..." or words to that effect.
my personal experience helping new beekeepers is they want to inspect/open their hive twice a week-or twice a year.

[Joseph Clemens]

So far, I haven't used any trays, at all. I'm thinking about it, though. But I'd use it for wax moth and maybe Varroa too, since SHB haven't arrived in our area, yet.

[Seymore]

The trays do an excellent job, Joseph, with shb and as a mite indicator. I just can't keep the girls without circulation in our hot summers - 110-115 heat indices with oppressive humidity. Oy. So I pull them. Testing now to see how they did. A bit nervous. I used the beetle eaters or the ilk - they didn't catch much this year. Curious.