Attracting swarms - what are the odds?

[manek]

Where does one get lemongrass? Seems you can only buy ridiculously tiny vials for ridiculously high prices and that's it. Or do you not need much?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Where does one get lemongrass? Seems you can only buy ridiculously tiny vials for ridiculously high prices and that's it. Or do you not need much?

you only need a little drop

 

[Boston Bees]

Where does one get lemongrass? Seems you can only buy ridiculously tiny vials for ridiculously high prices and that's it. Or do you not need much?

You don't need much - indeed, you have to be careful not to put too much in, I think

 

[Ian123]

Where does one get lemongrass? Seems you can only buy ridiculously tiny vials for ridiculously high prices and that's it. Or do you not need much?

Check out any health food shops, am pretty sure the likes of Holland and barrat or similar do it.

 

[JamezF]

citronella and lemongrass oil - big difference

As far as I'm aware, citronella is extracted from lemongrass, but in fact lemongrass oil is also used directly as an insect repellent.

James

 

[JamezF]

Check out any health food shops, am pretty sure the likes of Holland and barrat or similar do it.

That would seem a sensible option. Some of the online sources of essential oils look a bit dodgy.

James

 

[Ian123]

As far as I'm aware, citronella is extracted from lemongrass, but in fact lemongrass oil is also used directly as an insect repellent.

James

Same family different grasses……I think?

 

[Apiarisnt]

Several threads on this forum refer to lemongrass oil, but one point seems to be important. There is more than one sort of 'essential' oil marketed as lemongrass, and the one recommended is Cymbopogon citratus, apparently. That is what I use, with some success.

 

[JamezF]

Same family different grasses……I think?

No idea there, to be honest. It wouldn't surprise me if "better quality" (by whatever measure) oil came from one variety and that gets sold as an essential oil whereas oil from other varieties is used for citronella.

James

 

[Apiarisnt]

Several threads on this forum refer to lemongrass oil, but one point seems to be important. There is more than one sort of 'essential' oil marketed as lemongrass, and the one recommended is Cymbopogon citratus, apparently. That is what I use, with some success.

You can also use lemongrass oil to treat and prevent AFB, as long as you realise that it is entirely useless for such purpose

 

[madasafish]

Several threads on this forum refer to lemongrass oil, but one point seems to be important. There is more than one sort of 'essential' oil marketed as lemongrass, and the one recommended is Cymbopogon citratus, apparently. That is what I use, with some success.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...op=false&LH_Complete=0&LH_Sold=0&LH_PrefLoc=1

 

[Ian123]

You can also use lemongrass oil to treat and prevent AFB, as long as you realise that it is entirely useless for such purpose

Evidently you can cure afb by letting bees coat the hive in propolis

 

[Bumble Bee Slim]

Where does one get lemongrass? Seems you can only buy ridiculously tiny vials for ridiculously high prices and that's it. Or do you not need much?

How about trying a few crushed leaves of lemon balm ? Easy to grow and hardy, it appears to have some of the same chemicals as lemon grass eg neral,geraniol and citronellal. I believe it has been used in the past to wipe around inside of skeps and hives to encourage bees to stay put.
Useful in the kitchen and dead easy to propagate but not sure how effective it is against AFB !

 

[Dodge]

How about trying a few crushed leaves of lemon balm ? Easy to grow and hardy, it appears to have some of the same chemicals as lemon grass eg neral,geraniol and citronellal. I believe it has been used in the past to wipe around inside of skeps and hives to encourage bees to stay put.
Useful in the kitchen and dead easy to propagate but not sure how effective it is against AFB !

Not wanting to change the direction of this thread but I believe the snag with AFB is the spores. In the US they are allowed to use antibiotics to control and eliminate AFB in colonies but once you have spores present the Antibiotics are a sticking plaster and it will return; spore survive decades.

 

[Wilco]

Not wanting to change the direction of this thread but I believe the snag with AFB is the spores. In the US they are allowed to use antibiotics to control and eliminate AFB in colonies but once you have spores present the Antibiotics are a sticking plaster and it will return; spore survive decades.

Both types of FB are spore formers. Yes, basically once it's there, antibiotics mask it but it's going to keep returning. Decades is an understatement. Probably also why some areas are EFB hotspots. Think there was a Swedish paper which showed some success on AFB eradication with a systematic approach including testing over several years though, linked it on here last year I think.

 

[Kristian]

Is there a local pest controller you could approach to let them know you're available for swarm collection? Spring is on the horizon, they will almost certainly be called out to a "wasp nest" that will be bees in the next month or two.

I've been lucky enough to find a local pest controller that calls whenever he gets a swarm. I buy him a pint as a thank you, the swarm gets rehoused, home owner get a jar of honey and swarm gets removed for free. Invariably I run out of equipment before he stops offering swarms.

 

[Apiarisnt]

Not wanting to change the direction of this thread but I believe the snag with AFB is the spores. In the US they are allowed to use antibiotics to control and eliminate AFB in colonies but once you have spores present the Antibiotics are a sticking plaster and it will return; spore survive decades.

Old research , but still oft cited and I am not aware (yet) of it being successfully challenged

 

[North End Bees]

Where does one get lemongrass? Seems you can only buy ridiculously tiny vials for ridiculously high prices and that's it. Or do you not need much?

I bought this lemongrass from eBay last year. Dipped in a cotton bud and laid it on top of the first frame. Worked very well and at £1.79 was much cheaper than the same stuff you can buy in the health food shops.

 

[JamezF]

I bought this lemongrass from eBay last year. Dipped in a cotton bud and laid it on top of the first frame. Worked very well and at £1.79 was much cheaper than the same stuff you can buy in the health food shops.

Possibly different from the stuff you can buy in healthfood shops as well as it appears to be Cymbopogon Flexuosus rather than Cymbopogon Citratus. Perhaps it has a different balance of the required compounds, but if it does the job well enough then does it matter?

James

 

[North End Bees]

Yes quite probably.
But it worked well so I'm happy!