Essential Oils vs Varroa mite Part 2

[@dongreaux4714]

I like the oils rather than other methods will be using this method. Thanks for your experiment

[@thehivedoctor13]

You bet! If you do, I recommend something less potent. The bees avoided the areas where the pads were.

[@dongreaux4714]

I think it's the peppermint, also try thyme oil by majestic. Did some research and this oil kills veroa mites use one drop with coconut oil and soak the mixture up with cheese cloth squares and squeeze all the oil out put on frames

[@thehivedoctor13]

@dongreaux4714 Oh heck yeah! That’s good to know, thanks!

[@wesleybryant7839]

Awesome video. I can relate, I have a similar management practice. No need knows everything we have to constantly learn.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Nice! I like your style…always learning more. 🐝🐝

[@captbriansbees]

I’ve done 2 alcohol washes since I started. This was my second year. The NY bee inspector did the 1st and I did one myself. I stopped because I can see mites and now with my screen bottom boards, I can count them easily. I literally will do my last OA treatment today. Probably one of the last days we will see temps in the 70’s here on Long Island.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Oh nice! We have a cold front for a few days and then 70’s again but for how long 🤷‍♂️

[@R_Brickner]

So you are trying to find a mite treatment that has extended release and kills mite over a long period versus the 2 day killing achieved using vaporization, dribble, or spraying. Randy Oliver pioneered this in the U.S. back in 2016 with his trials then and trials to date using the oxalic acid/glycerin mix in various media, the least expensive and longest lasting (56 days) using the Maximizer pads. I can't imagine opening the hive weekly to change out a mite treatment. DB

[@thehivedoctor13]

Hey, no that’s not what I’m trying actually. I am a huge proponent for OAV. But I found myself not being able to do it when needed so I was experimenting with another method not to replace OAV but work until I could vaporize again.

[@HaroldKeiner]

Agree about the mite washes, how do think the swedish sponges would work as a medium for the oils. Will have to try this next year. Thanks.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Someone else also suggested Swedish sponges. I haven’t looked into that yet but now am beginning to think that I should. 🤔

[@HaroldKeiner]

@@thehivedoctor13 Was just watching a latest Randy Oliver talk and he used homasote to installl thymol for the mites.

[@thehivedoctor13]

@HaroldKeiner I will have to Google homasote, I’ve never heard of it. Thanks 🤔

[@danplatt861]

You know that I am a BIG FAN of your content and I am very much aligned with your philosophy and beekeeping practices. Once you have this method dialed in, I will give this a try in my little apiary. Side question: do you have a video on why you have holes in your boxes and the reason for their location? Thanks Jonathan!

[@thehivedoctor13]

Hey Dan, I greatly appreciate you in case you didn’t know. I like your approach too, wait for me to dial it in and then hit the gas pedal! While I don’t have enough warm weather remaining this year to properly test this method until it’s just right, I plan on doing so in three spring. I don’t have a video, that I recall, that explains why I have the holes in my boxes but will gladly make one, thanks for asking!🐝

[@BaileyCurtis]

You’re a legend mate. Thank you 🤝

[@thehivedoctor13]

Ha😅 thanks for the encouragement!

[@beemandjl]

I got my Mckesson wound care pads in from Amazon today. I got the 2x3 pads. I put them in water, and they hold the liquid. I want to add some glycerin to the oils to make them last a little longer, even though they are oils themselves. I may hold them so they will not dry out as quickly.

[@thehivedoctor13]

You have definitely thought this through well. I hope yours work well. Mine were overly potent.

[@irietpeshkess]

What are top boxes on the two deep frames ? Are they feeders ? Thanks for the great video

[@thehivedoctor13]

Thank you! They are calling Quilting Boxes and are used for maintaining colony warmth during the cold months.

[@heavymechanic2]

I saw a Russian lady in SC using thyme oil and swears it works. I need to try this treatment as I really hate the commercial stuff due to the cost.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Yes, when I do this again I will definitely be including thyme oil. However my delivery method will need to be less potent, the bees avoided the area where the pads were.

[@djinanesoft5608]

Why don't use tongue depressor in the bottom of the frame it's better then coton I think. ‏

[@thehivedoctor13]

@djinanesoft5608 I agree with you. Thanks so much!

[@djinanesoft5608]

@@thehivedoctor13 Don't mention. Take care

[@timothystewart591]

Hey this might seem dumb, but you can infuse all those oils into beeswax like making scented candles. If you put out pucks of this infused wax wouldn’t the bees repurpose it all through the hive on their own a chunk at a time? That would be pretty slow release I’m thinking.

[@thehivedoctor13]

This is not a dumb idea at all! I think it’s quite brilliant and definitely worth trying out!

[@mikemccabe1324]

Careful, at the time of this video I had added Verroxsan strips two weeks earlier. And added a 1/4 patty. At the time of this video that patty was infested with hive beetle larvae. So it was immediately removed. The next day I did an inspection of the upper deep and found the #1-2 and 9-10 frames had beetles hanging out. Mainly because they were not policed by bees. The bees were defensive regarding robbing so I didn’t get a chance to look beyond two frames in the lower deep at beetle numbers. The two I looked at didn’t have any.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Dang beetles! I hate seeing the larvae thrive on the patties too.

[@mikemccabe1324]

@@thehivedoctor13 it has me on edge because they were on top of the upper deep and I wonder how far they may have dropped to. The girls weren’t into me even removing two frames on the lower and got stung three times. They had been fighting robbing for weeks. Yellow jackets and another hive that had one more black ring on the thorax. It will be 79 on Tuesday. My Verroxsan needs to come out on 11/1. But I will double up the protection and risk rolling the queen for finding hive beetles and surely scraping the bottom board and maybe even flame treat or wipe with colloidal silver. I have ozone treatment equipment for cleaning houses and just read about ozone and varroa along with treating a host of other issues.

[@thehivedoctor13]

@mikemccabe1324 Oh wow, those are things I have never considered using in beekeeping. I love original thinking like yours!

[@jonclemons1421]

Have you tried Swedish Sponges? I've seen a couple youtubers using them with success.

[@thehivedoctor13]

No I don’t think I have even seen those. Worth looking into! Thanks!

[@jeanirwin9539]

Ever considered shop towels cut into small strips, etc.

[@thehivedoctor13]

Honestly I think the shop towels would work better as long as they weren’t over-saturated.

[@jefferyevans7299]

How would you apply this to Layens Hive? Thank you

[@thehivedoctor13]

Ooh good question! I would most likely go with a longer strip, the kind they use for the Varroxsan strips. I would remove a couple of frames, shift them aside, install the strip, slide the frames back into place carefully and voila!

[@francinekeane9900]

what about wintergreen oil

[@thehivedoctor13]

Idk, I would need to look into that 🤔

[@BeeCoolHunnyBunny]

Hi there Hive Doctor, just out of interest did you consider Thyme oil? and if so what were your reasons not to include it in your mix?, thanks for the vids btw!

[@thehivedoctor13]

Great question! So I would consider using thymol for sure. The only reason I didn’t was because I was using a recipe from a guy in Florida and that’s what he used.

[@BeeCoolHunnyBunny]

@@thehivedoctor13 , got it, best to start with what's been tried and tested, and work from there. I have thought about making up home brew thymol but am a bit cautious as the over the counter version seems to cause issues within the colony much like formic acid, I do however use very small amounts of Thyme and Tea Tree oil in sugar syrup feed, like a homemade hive alive, I also boil up the water for the feed with Birch Polypores, as experimented with by Paul Stamets, which apparently helps them fight off viruses, but this is feed and not a mite treatment so a very different game, I'm eagerly awaiting your thoughts and conclusions on the treatment. so best of luck with that!

[@aweka64]

Or a combo of Oregano and Thym ?

[@thehivedoctor13]

Yeah, I think as I fine tune this method, I will ultimately use these oils: Thyme, Oregano, Peppermint and Tea Tree. This combo, in my opinion, would be great for battling Varroa, SHB and potentially the viruses spread by Varroa.

[@aweka64]

What about Thym oil ?

[@dongreaux4714]

@aweka64 that's what I will use one drop mixed with coconut oil, use cheese cloth cut in squares.

[@thehivedoctor13]

@dongreaux4714 That’s interesting 🤔, why cheesecloth?

[@dongreaux4714]

@aweka64 use cheesecloth because the bees won't get stuck and it absorbed the oil and you can squeeze out excess oil

[@thehivedoctor13]

@dongreaux4714 I like it. Thank you for explaining that.