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Bee Diagnostic Service:
Samples of bees analysed for disease.
Fee €5.00
Send to:
Pat Maloney,
Bee Diagnostic Service,
Teagasc, Kinsealy Recearch Centre,
Malahide Road,
Dublin 17
The following is for information only.
Read and make up your own mind on the subject.
Alternative Treatments For Bees.
Recipes for Feeding Bees:
Honey
Despite the fact that on first observation it would seem obviously correct,
honey is not the best feed for bees. Honey is in essence bee food that has been
processed so that it won’t spoil. When given the chance, bees prefer to eat
nectar.
Sugar Syrup
One of the reasons to keep bees is because the honey that they create is
harvestable. After a honey harvest it may be necessary to supply bees with an
artificial honey replacement, or a source of artificial nectar to prevent
starvation. Other times artificial nectar can be used to encourage the drawing
of comb or aid in the rearing of brood when real nectar may be scarce or
unavailable. It should also be noted that honey contains materials that bees can
not digest and sugar syrup makes for a better source of bee feed. This does not
mean that it is appropriated to take all of the bees’ honey, after all the bees
did work rather hard for it. Bees should always have excess honey in storage.
When using sugar only use white cane sugar, don’t used raw sugar, brown sugar or
molasses as they contain impurities that may harm the bees or be difficult for
the bees to digest. If using powdered sugar instead of standard crystallized
cane sugar be sure to check the ingredients list, as some powdered sugar
contains anti-caking agents that might be harmful to bees. Although the
following recipes call for ingredients by weight, volume is a close enough
approximation, as the bees don’t particularly care about the specifics of sugar
concentration.
1:1 Syrup
1:1, or One-to-One syrup can be used for supplemental spring feeding and
encourage the drawing of comb.
- 1 part (by weight) sugar
- 1 part (by weight) water
Simply stir sugar into room temperature water until all the sugar has
dissolved to produce the desired quantity. The dissolving process will be sped
up with hotter water, just be sure not to boil the sugar solution. One volume of
water plus one volume of sugar when prepared equals roughly 1.5 volumes of
syrup.
Weight of water = 8.34 lbs(#) per gallon 1/2 gal = 4.14# 1qt = 2.09# 1pt = 1.04#
& 1 cup = .52# of water.
2:1 Syrup
2:1, or Two-to-One syrup can be used for fall feeding after the last honey
harvest, or if the bees do not have a sufficiently large store of honey.
- 2 parts (by weight) sugar
- 1 part (by weight) water
The two parts sugar will not dissolve in room temperature water. Because of
this mixing difficulty it is advisable to mix the sugar into near-boiling water.
Do not allow the sugar mixture to boil, as this will give the chance for some of
the sugars to caramelize, creating a partially indigestible and possibly even
toxic solution as far as the bees are concerned. Be sure to let the solution
thoroughly cool before feeding it to the bees.
1:2 Syrup
1:2, or One-to-Two syrup can be used to stimulate brood rearing by simulating
a nectar flow.
- 1 part (by weight) sugar
- 2 parts (by weight) water
Simply mix the sugar with room temperature water and feed the bees.
General Purpose Essential Oil Mixture
A commercial, general purpose essential oil product for bees that is similar
to the following recipe claims many benefits, but many of those claims have yet
to be proven. The following recipe should work about as well as that product,
but is cheaper. It can be added in small quantities to feed to encourage
feeding, however it has been known to occasionally cause Robbing behaviour due
to its great appeal to bees.
- 5 cups water
- 2 1/2 pounds of sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon lecithin granules (used as an emulsifier)
- 15 drops spearmint oil
- 15 drops lemongrass oil
Bring the water to a boil and integrate the sugar until dissolved. Once the
sugar is dissolved remove the mixture from the heat and quickly add the lecithin
and the essential oils. Stir until everything is evenly distributed. This
solution should have a strong scent and not be left open around bees. Cool
before using.
Smokeless Smoke
A solution of general
purpose essential oil mixture and 1:1 syrup can be mixed and used in a standard
spray or misting bottle. This solution reportedly has varied effects depending
on the specific history of the hive. Because of differences between each hive
it, is best to try a ten to one [1:10?] mixture of essential oil mixture to
syrup and vary the ratio as necessary. Have your smoker readily available during
your first few trials in case the bees don’t react to the solution.
Essential Oil Scent Masking Syrup
Nearly any essential oil
can be mixed with a 1:1 syrup solution to mask an undesired scent in the hive.
Among other uses, a masking syrup can be used during queen introduction or when
joining two hives. Simply add the desired amount of oils to the syrup. The
stronger the scent, the better it will serve to mask other scents, though be
frugal as essential oils have a strong smell.
One of the more common oils to use is peppermint oil, but be sure not to use
banana oil.
Guide to Essential
Oils
- Banana
- Though it has been unconfirmed, reports state that banana oil seems to
closely mimic the alarm pheromone of honeybees. Because of this it is
advised against using banana oil, or other strong banana scented products
near or around hives. It is unclear wheatear bananas can be safely eaten
near honey bees, but it is likely that no adverse result would be seen.
- Lemon Grass
- Lemongrass works conveniently as well as the pheromone created by the
honeybee's nasonov gland, also known as attractant pheromone. Because of
this lemon grass oil can bee used as a lure when
trapping swarms or attempting to draw the attention of hived bees. Be
warned however that lemon grass oil can cause a robbing behaviour if it is
used within or on a weak hive.
- Peppermint
- Peppermint oil is used as a general-purpose pheromone masking scent. It
does not apparently mimic any known bee pheromones and is simply used to
mask others. In theory any other strong scented essential oil would work the
same.
- Spearmint
- Spearmint oil is often used in conjunction with lemon grass oil during
feeding to improve hive health and work as a recruiting scent.
- Spearmint and Lemon Grass
- Spearmint oil and lemon grass oil are two essential oils that are
commonly used in conjunction to complete many tasks with bees. A simple
general purpose essential oil mixture can be used for many things, including
avoiding the reliance of smoke when opening hives.
- Tea Tree
- Tea Tree oil is often used in
grease patties for control of mites. It seems as if Tea Tree oil can be
interchanged with wintergreen oil with no loss of effectiveness.
- Wintergreen
- wintergreen oil is often used in grease patties for control of mites. It
seems as if Tea Tree oil can be interchanged with wintergreen oil with no
loss of effectiveness.
Essential Oil Therapy Versus Mites.
Varroa Mites
Essential oils, in regards
to mite control, have two apparent modes of operation. Primarily, direct
toxicity. In the case of
varroa mites, once a mite comes in to direct contact with an essential oils
such as wintergreen or tea tree oil mixed into a grease patty they are usually
killed within a few minutes. This however, requires that the infected bee
actually contact the grease patty. Due to this required contact requirement,
direct toxicity cannot eliminate mites, only aid in the control of mite levels.
Secondly it appears that mite reproduction can be impaired when bees are fed a
syrup containing essential oils. Essential oils are passed from feeding bees to
other bees and larva through trophalaxis. Essential oils thereby pass to the
brood that ingest the oils and poison any female Varroa that attempt to
parasitically feed on the larva.
Tracheal Mites
Similarly essential oils
appear to have an impact on the breeding and control of
tracheal mites, however the effects of tracheal mites are difficult to
observe and the mechanism that causes the control is in debate. It appears that
the best therapy, in regards to tracheal mites and essential oils, is the usage
of grease patties.
Treatment
It is recommended that that
grease patties containing essential oils, and other medicaments as desired, are
kept on the hives throughout the winter and any season when honey collection for
human consumption is not taking place. Grease patties not containing and
essential oils or medication should be kept on hives throughout the rest of the
year. During times of the year that temperatures allow for flight, and honey is
not to being collected for human consumption, colonies should be treated with
syrup containing essential oils.
(Source: wikibooks)
Mite Control in Honeybees With Essential Oils
Essential oils have been shown to provide effective mite control
in honeybee colonies. This site will provide the latest essential oil research
results, treatments, and lists of world literature.
Research Results
Essential Oils and Hive Treatment
(Source: West Virginia University)
Article by:
WILLIAM REVILLE
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: ONE THIRD of global agricultural
production depends on pollination by the European honeybee, Apis
mellifera . Unfortunately, a mysterious ailment called colony collapse
disorder (CCD) has recently afflicted bees worldwide, putting nearly 100
crops that require pollination at risk. Research points to a complex disease
in which a combination of factors make the bees vulnerable to viruses. The
situation is described by Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp in
Scientific American (April 2009).
A flowering plant grows from a seed. Pollination must occur at the
flower, producing a fruit with seeds. Dispersal of the seeds completes the
cycle of plant reproduction. About 250,000 species of flowering plant
require pollination. Pollination is the process whereby the male germ cell,
borne in pollen, is transferred to the female sex organ. Many plants produce
pollen that is heavy and sticky and doesn’t blow easily from flower to
flower. These plants require agents such as insects to move the pollen. The
honeybee is particularly well adapted for unconsciously picking up and
moving pollen when feeding on flower nectar.
Some of the crops that require pollination by honeybees include alfalfa,
clover, apple, avocado, strawberry, cherry, peach, pear, almond, macadamia,
cotton, sunflower, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, onion, squash and
watermelon. Commercial beekeepers move beehives from field to field to
pollinate crops. The annual value of bees’ work worldwide is $215 billion.
CCD came to prominence in 2006. Typically a honeybee colony suffering
from CCD loses large numbers of its worker bees, leaving only the queen and
the young workers. The dead bees are not found in the hives. Alternatively
the colony may be wiped out completely. A US survey in spring 2007 revealed
that more than 30 per cent of all colonies had died. The die-off resumed the
following winter and also occurred in Europe, Australia, Brazil, China and
Canada.
This is not the first time that the honeybee has suffered problems.
Between 1987 and 2006 the number of managed bee colonies dropped by 45 per
cent worldwide due to an onslaught by the varroa mite parasite. CCD colonies
have been examined in detail and it is confirmed that the varroa mite is not
present in sufficient numbers to explain the sudden die-off. Rather, the
bees suffer from a variety of ailments, including many viral infections of
known type, but no single pathogen explains the scale of the problem. The
researchers hypothesised that something is compromising the bees’ immune
systems, making them susceptible to many infections they would normally be
able to resist.
Many suggestions were proposed as to what is weakening the bees.
Radiation from mobile phones was suggested, but there is no evidence.
Poisoning by pollen from GM crops was suggested, but this will not stand up
because the particular insecticidal toxin produced by these crops is not
activated in the honeybee gut.
Synthetic poisons used by beekeepers to control
mites and new pesticides are more credible candidates for weakening the
bees. A new class of pesticide, the neonicotinoids, were blamed by French
beekeepers for harming insect pollinators. Research has shown that
neonicotinoids interfere with the honeybee’s memory of how to return home to
the hive.
The researchers also postulated that poor nutrition might be weakening
bees. In a completely natural environment, bees will feed on a wide variety
of flowers and are consequently very unlikely to miss out on any essential
nutrient. However, bee colonies now feed on huge acreages of a single crop,
which might be deficient in important nutrients. Nutritionally rich, weedy,
flower-filled borders and hedgerows have also been eliminated. Beekeepers
attempt to make up for these deficiencies by feeding protein supplements to
the bees, but CCD still develops.
Intensive investigation of the CCD problem has failed to identify any
particular chemical root cause of the problem. Initial tests failed to
identify any new infectious disease that would explain the problem, but,
eventually, one virus stood out – the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV).
IAPV was found in almost all colonies suffering from CCD. Cox-Foster exposed
healthy honeybees, with no previous exposure to the virus, to IAPV. The
infected bees began to die within two weeks. They didn’t die near the hives,
which is characteristic of CCD.
However, not all colonies infected with IAPV develop CCD, so, either IAPV
alone cannot cause the disease or some bees are IAPV-resistant. The growing
consensus is that multiple factors, such as new pesticides and poor
nutrition, combine to weaken colonies, making them susceptible to
virus-induced collapse.
The long term solution to the problem is to identify and breed
virus-resistant bees. In the meantime, beekeepers are improving colonies’
diets and keeping infections and parasites in check. And, simple changes in
agriculture such as breaking up big expanses of single crops with hedgerows
could restore balance to honeybees’ diets
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