Peppermint soap and bees?

[Radford]

I just sprayed my garden with 2 tablespoons of peppermint soap in a gal. of water. I believe peppermint is good for bees but how about the soap. I sprayed the Vegs not the hives? I hope i will be ok. Thanks Robbie

[eqnox]

I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish, but be very careful with soapy water and bees. Spraying bees with liquid soap and water will kill them faster than Raid.

I know people use it for AFB and any straglers on cut outs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De7_0HtD74s

[Radford]

I was spraying my Vaggies to keep the pest (tomato worms mealy bugs spider mites ect. ) off the Veggies.

[Sherman]

The peppermint oil repels some pests but it doesn't apply very evenly on its own (plus a little goes a long way) so it is diluted with soapy water to break the surface tension of the oil and the water and make it spread over the plants rather than beading up. That same surface tenson breaking action (things that do that are called "surfacants") will cause the water to spread evenly over the bees (or any other insects) rather than beading up. It suffocates the insects pretty effectively.

If you didn't spray directly on any bees they should be OK. In the future, perhaps the best thing would be to apply the spray very early in the morning before the bees are flying so it has a chance to dry on the veggies before the bees get to the plants.

[mac]

If ya didn't spray the bees it's Ok

[Radford]

Thanks for the info. So I will spray in the early morning next time.