by DR. PEDRO P. RODRIGUEZ
2133 Wolfsnare Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454
e-mail: DronebeeR@netscape.net
and
C. E. HARRIS
321 London Bridge Road, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454


Introduction
Ever since I began studying the effects of Food Grade Mineral Oil (FGMO), on honey bee parasitic mites, I have had a constant thought in mind - to find the most cost-effective and most efficient ways of application of FGMO and to make my findings readily available to each and every beekeeper worldwide. In keeping with this self-promise of performance, I have dedicated this year's research to improve the use of FGMO. Several changes were required to achieve my purpose: modifying the previous formulation for the Burgess Propane Insect Fogger and for the FGMO soaked emulsion cords; addition of thymol to FGMO; designing and development of Small Hive Beetle Traps, and designing and development of a tray for application of the emulsion-soaked cords directly from outside without lifting supers. Even though the existing methods and application were working satisfactorily, the changes have proven to be remarkably useful, providing beekeepers ways and means to reduce labor and to improve efficiency of FGMO in their operations.


Materials and Method
As reported in the American Bee Journal, September 2003, Volume 143, No. 9, pp 729-730, this years trials were performed utilizing 12 colonies at two parallel rows on the east end of the yard. Six Buckfast race colonies (labeled 4-b, 5-b, 6-b, 7-b, 8-b were treated with FGMO fogging stand alone; colony 9-b used as control; six Italian race colonies (labeled 1-a, 2-a, 3-a, 4-a, 5-a, and 6-a) were treated with FGMO-thymol fogging and emulsion-soaked cords. The intended purpose of this set-up was to compare the effectiveness of the two methods of application. A seventh colony, labeled 1-a-1, was developed from a split from colony 1a combined with a natural swarm collected at the bee yard arising from one of the Buckfast colonies. This colony was transferred (with approval from the State Bee Inspector) a short distance to my home and treated with FGMO-thymol emulsion soaked cords alone. All colonies were provided with mite collection sticky traps, and mite drop counts were performed in the following sequences: 24 hour counts, two week counts and one month counts for the sole purpose of providing guidelines to beekeepers who may wish to employ variable standards of practice. Colonies 1-a, 2-a, 3-a, 4-a, 5-a, 6-a and 1-a-1 were fed 2:1 ratio sugar syrup once a month from April through September 2003. Feeding was necessary because the colonies were derived from packaged bees and the spring season in the area was extremely wet and nectar was scarce.

Mite Collection Data
	May 7	June 7	June 21	July 4	August 9	October 4	October 14	*
1-a-1	-	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1-a	2	4	5	8	10	5	0	1.4
2-a	1	2	2	5	7	3	1	0.88
3-a	0	0	2	5	3	0	0	0.42
4-a	2	2	3	3	5	1	0	0.67
5-a	1	3	5	7	10	2	0	1.17
6-a	2	4	6	8	12	2	1	1.46
5-b	15	20	19	22	18	39	32	8.88
6-b	20	6	21	35	40	30	18	7.08
7-b	15	22	33	29	26	35	21	7.54
8-b	21	27	43	50	61	120	70	16.30
9-b	20	35	59	89	225	2000	1200	151.00
Average Daily Mite Drop Counts
* Average Daily Mite Drop

a. Colony 1-a-1. This colony grew extremely fast, developing three full brood bodies. This colony was treated only with FGMO-thymol emulsion soaked cords once a month. Sticky traps were placed on the bottom board and mite counts were performed on the same dates as for the rest of the colonies tested. There were no mites or small hive beetles found in the traps. Worker and drone larvae were removed simultaneously for mite inspection during the entire test period and no mites or SHB's were detected.

b. Colonies 1-a through 6-a developed large populations requiring addition of brood chambers, except colony 2-a that maintained a slow rate of brood production. (Careful observation of this colony did not reveal abnormalities, hence slow rate of growth has been attributed to poor queen quality). Varroa mites were found in all packages upon installation and small hive beetles in colonies 2-a, 3-a and 4-a requiring immediate treatment and installation of SHB traps. Inspections following FGMO-thymol treatment (fogging and emulsion soaked cords) revealed no mites during the month of May and June. Subsequent inspections revealed minimal progressive mite infection attributed to drifting of bees and drones from adjacent hives, as demonstrated by the presence of Buckfast race bees (dark color) within the Italian race colonies (golden).

c. Colonies 5-b through 8-b developed normal brood patterns and produced well. The Buckfast colonies were treated with FGMO stand alone, until October 2 when they were "shock" treated with FGMO-thymol fog and FGMO-thymol emulsion soaked cords. Colony 9-b, utilized as control, received no treatment until October 2nd when all the test colonies were treated equally. See mite drop counts.


Mite Drop Counts
Since I did not own all the colonies under treatment I chose this method of mite detection in preference to other detection methods (ether roll, sugar roll) since there is always a possibility that one might lose queens while collecting bees for rolling. Also, mite drop counting requires less work and the mite drop provides a more representative daily sampling of mite activity in the colonies. Dropped mites were collected in sticky traps made with waxed paper smeared with FGMO placed on trays located under screened bottom boards.

Discussion
After nine consecutive years performing research with FGMO and thousands of letters from beekeepers worldwide claiming success using FGMO, I am totally convinced that FGMO is an effective alternative treatment for honey bee parasitic mites I also realize that in the present format, use of FGMO is labor intensive and not very attractive to the entire beekeeping population because mites die slowly when treated with FGMO. I knew that if I were to gain the confidence of the general beekeeping population, I would need to make changes in the application of FGMO that would ease the form of application, reduce labor and produce a more effective mite death rate. Addition of these three factors would make FGMO cost-effective, giving beekeepers confidence and trust in the use of FGMO.

This year, I initiated implementation of two changes that have demonstrated to be precisely the necessary adjustments needed to achieve that goal with FGMO: Addition of thymol to the formula for the fogger and for the emulsion soaked cords and design and development of a tray to insert the emulsion-soaked cords without having to remove supers. Mite drop collection data shown in the table gives clear evidence of the effectiveness of these changes. (See diagrams, photographs and instructions for the preparation of the new formula).

I have received inquiries from people concerned with the potential toxicity of thymol. Also, some have expressed concern about development of mite resistance to thymol as mites have developed in the past to other acaricides employed for treatment against mites. I realize that these are genuine concerns. I would like to dispel those fears about mite resistance with a simple explanation. In order for mites to develop resistance to a given chemical, mites exposed to that chemical must return to the bee larvae to deposit their eggs from which future mite generations may develop. Thymol kills mites on contact. Therefore, mites treated with thymol will not return to the bee larvae. Hence, there wiil not be any future mite generations developing resistance to thymol.

Knowing that thymol is toxic, care has been taken to lower the strength of thymol in the FGMO formula to very low levels. Also, my research partners and I are monitoring beeswax and honey by sending samples to a laboratory for residue testing.


FGMO-THYMOL FORMULA FOR CORDS AND BURGESS FOGGER
(Do not use thymol in your formula with honey supers on)

The purpose of the FGMO-Thymol for these formulae is to obtain a concentration of thymol no higher than 5.49% thymol for the fogger and 2.53% thymol for the emulsion soaked cords.

Emulsion soaked cords

1000 cc mineral oil @ 0.86 density

(*) (860 grams (30.34 oz.))

100 grams (3.53 oz.) thymol

1000 grams honey (2-1/4 pounds)

1000 grams beeswax (2-1/4 pounds)

100 pieces of cotton cord (40 inches long each)

Add the weight of the ingredients without the cords

Divide into 100 grams thymol

Thus:

100 = 2.53 % thymol 3960 total weight

Fogger

1000 cc mineral oil @ 0.86 density

(*) (860 grams (30.34 oz.))

50 grams (1.76 oz.) thymol

Add the weight of above

Divide into 50 grams thymol

Thus:

50 = 5.49 % thymol 910 total weight

(*) 1000 cc of FGMO of 0.86 density weighs 860 grams Remove 100 cc FGMO from 1000 cc to dilute thymol. See instructions below.

Instructions for diluting thymol
These instructions replace previous instructions for dilution of thymol with alcohol. Even though alcohol utilized for dilution of the thymol evaporates readily, I wish to dismiss potential offenses to millions of brothers in faith who oppose use of alcohol. The new formulae are not only more cost-effective and not offensive to non-alcohol consumers, but also easier to prepare minimizing the risk of adding a flammable agent to the formula.


Instructions for making dilution for the fogger
Remove 100 cc FGMO from the 1000 cc intended for mixture. Place 100 cc FGMO in a mason jar. Add 50 grams thymol for fogger and 100 grams for emulsion cords, and secure cup tightly. Place a metal container filled with water (e.g. cooking ware) on a heat source. Place glass jar with the 100 cc FGMO and thymol in the water of the heating vessel. Swish/swirl jar as the water heats up until thymol dissolves completely. Solution will become slightly amber in color (normal change). The solution is now ready to add to the rest of the FGMO intended for use in the fogger or the cords.


Instructions for making FGMO-thymol emulsion
Place 900 cc FGMO in a metal or ceramic container and place container over a heat source. Allow oil to heat. Add 1000 grams (2-1/4 pounds) beeswax and stir well until wax is totally melted. Remove container from heat source. Add 1000 grams (2-1/4 pounds honey) and stir well until it blends into wax-FGMO mixture. Add 100 cc FGMO-thymol mixture previously diluted as per instructions above. Add cords immediately and stir until they are well soaked with the solution. Pack cords in a tightly sealed container and store in a cool place. Your emulsion-soaked cords will be ready to use as soon as the emulsion cools.


Instructions for making FGMO-thymol mixture for fogger
Add 100 cc FGMO-thymol mixture (obtained as per instructions above for diluting thymol) to 900 cc FGMO (remainder of the 1000 cc needed) and shake well. This will result in a 5.49 % FGMO-thymol solution. Fill your fogger container. You are now ready to fog. Set fogger on a level, steady surface. Turn gas valve to the left 1/4 turn. Listen for a slight hissing sound from your fogger. Light your fogger from underneath (I recommend using a butane stove lighter for this purpose). Wait. You should notice a drop or two of oil dripping from the spout of the fogger. Next, you should notice a small emission of oil mist similar to that of a lit cigarette. Next, the fogger will emit a larger puff of oil mist. The fogger is now ready for fogging. Holding the fogger parallel to the ground, point the nozzle directly at your hive entrance. DO NOT AIM THE FOGGER DOWNWARD! Place a tray or shield below the hive if you use screen-bottom boards to direct flow of mist into the hive. Pull the trigger of the fogger 3-4 times, while you count 1001, 1002, 1003, and 1004, depending on the population size of your hives. When fogging, please wear a respirator for safety reasons. Never add any other ingredient to your fogger when following this procedure. Do not use foggers that may have been used for spraying pesticides previously. Residues from the insecticide may have remained imbedded in the container. These residues would then be transferred to your FGMO-thymol solution and result in probable bee kills.