Aint got no lecithin,can i use an egg instead?

[biglongdarren]

making up hivemakers recipe and aint got no lecithin,would it do any harm to add an egg yolk or two?lecithin is in egg yolk.
Darren

 

[itma]

Its only a small component of egg.
Lots of other stuff, that regardless of bee-diet suitability, wouldn't be good after 24 hours at ambient temperature outside the eggshell ...

Doesn't sound good to me.
Health food shops sell Lecithin - not too hard to find.

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Massive tub too so should last forever!

 

[biglongdarren]

got some off a neighbour,fried egg is off the menu.
thanks Darren

 

[For want of a better word]

OR use finely ground SOYA FLOUR...GM free of course !

 

[biglongdarren]

if soya flour would work then what about xanthan gum?
Darren

 

[itma]

if soya flour would work then what about xanthan gum?
Darren

Xanthan is a thickener and a stabiliser, but not actually an emulsifier. Different sort of thing.
// Might be interesting to add some as well as the lecithin, though ...


Has icanhopit used soya flour for thymolated syrup, I wonder?

 

[Lorenz]

I got wintergreen essential oil today (Methyl salicilate) and added it to the emulsified thymolated syrup along with the cinnamon oil, clove oil and tea tree oil. Felt a bit like a mad alchemist, but did at least spend a while looking at Dave Cushman working out how much would be too much in ppm, or trying to. The interesting thing is that wintergreen smells exactly the same as Germolene. I wonder if the bees will take it. I wouldn't.

 

[farbee]

I got wintergreen essential oil today (Methyl salicilate) and added it to the emulsified thymolated syrup along with the cinnamon oil, clove oil and tea tree oil. Felt a bit like a mad alchemist, but did at least spend a while looking at Dave Cushman working out how much would be too much in ppm, or trying to. The interesting thing is that wintergreen smells exactly the same as Germolene. I wonder if the bees will take it. I wouldn't.

I am using without lecthin. It seems pretty well dissolved to me at room temperature anyway. Looked up the solubility of thymol which put it above what we are using but that is in water of course not syrup.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I am using without lecthin.

Put some of your dissolved in alcohol/surgical spirit thymol crystals in a jar with some syrup, 50% of each and observe what happens.

 

[Nic Rhodes]

You need an emulsifier otherwise it will all float on the surface.

 

[yeogi75]

Mr

got this from chemistry book from work if its any good to any one
View attachment 7373

 

[farbee]

Put some of your dissolved in alcohol/surgical spirit thymol crystals in a jar with some syrup, 50% of each and observe what happens.

Hi Hivemaker.
I know what will happpen without doing this. It will precipitate out of solution. But that is way above its solubility that you used in syrup to feed.

Dissovled in propan-1-ol add slowly and stir and it seems to dissolve ok to me. It all seems to be being taken down without anything left over so I am hoping it will be ok.

No saying the lecthin is not a good idea and I will try and get some lecthin stuff for next year.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Dissovled in propan-1-ol add slowly and stir and it seems to dissolve ok to me. It all seems to be being taken down without anything left over so I am hoping it will be ok.

Taste some of the syrup from the top of a gallon/two gallon feeder, after adding the mixture, then taste some from the bottom of the feeder.

 

[For want of a better word]

Taste some of the syrup from the top of a gallon/two gallon feeder, after adding the mixture, then taste some from the bottom of the feeder.

euk!

 

[Alabamaeee]

I paid £6.00 incl postage for 375 gram of lecithin of the feepay website. Would emulsify enough for the whole of the forum, but when compared to the total cost of Apiguard the thymol home-brew is still cheap. I expect if I seal it up well and keep it dry the lecithin will still be OK next year.

 

[drstitson]

lecithin is not used for the varroa treatment, just the thymolated syrup.

re solubility: Its an aliphatic, apolar compound, so its not soluble in water BUT is highly soluble in lipid or alcohol. hence the need to emulsify.

 

[farbee]

Taste some of the syrup from the top of a gallon/two gallon feeder, after adding the mixture, then taste some from the bottom of the feeder.

I would rather not do this thanks but I'll take your word for it.