bees like nicotine?

[tonybloke]

anyone else see this today?
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/159551/Bees-love-it-if-smoke-gets-in-their-hives

 

[Finman]

Tobacco and coffee does not grow here.

Tobacco plants have so long flower tube that I doubt that it is not meant to bees.
"When a hummingbird or a hawk moth sups on the sweet nectar of a wild tobacco plant..."

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/8...inators-by-dosing-their-nectar-with-nicotine/

 

[The Hyde Ranger]

Cool, I wonder if nicotine patches would work like lemon grass oil for attracting swarms.

 

[grizzly]

50g of Cutters Choice will be going into my smoker come Spring, might even start smoking again myself.

If they like Nicotine and Caffeine, maybe my jokes about Cannabis might not be so far fetched after all. !!!

 

[victor meldrew]

50g of Cutters Choice will be going into my smoker come Spring, might even start smoking again myself.

If they like Nicotine and Caffeine, maybe my jokes about Cannabis might not be so far fetched after all. !!!

Tobacco was used in a smoker to detect varroa prior to its advent in the uk.
Had a habit of knocking bees out cold .

John Wilkinson

 

[Poly Hive]

And as I recall made them very very grumpy, mind you it was a coarse a tobacco as I have ever seen.

PH

 

[ian]

Hi


Tobacco also used to be used as a treatment against Braula. As a bonus miticides/varroa treatments have put paid to this little pest.


Regards Ian

 

[Stiffy]

Have seen tobbaco used to deter leaches when I was on survey projects in India and Sri Lanka. It seemed to work well but always missed a few which we later found in unusual places when showering in the evening or morning.......like a scene from Psycho sometimes!

 

[m100]

Tobacco also used to be used as a treatment against Braula. As a bonus miticides/varroa treatments have put paid to this little pest.

That all depends on whether it really is a pest. By treating varroa we might have also eliminated something the bees have evolved alongside and may actually need in the hives (even though it might not appear so to the human observer)

I seem to recall Braula is still around on the Isle of Man, maybe one its last strongholds.

 

[george]

I seem to remember Thornes selling bee tobacco for smokers , they hated it as much as I did , It had the smell of Players No6 , for those old enough to remember .
George

 

[Apis]

I used to smoke 'em while I was at college, fantastic. So good I still have the cough.

 

[iombeeman]

That all depends on whether it really is a pest. By treating varroa we might have also eliminated something the bees have evolved alongside and may actually need in the hives (even though it might not appear so to the human observer)

I seem to recall Braula is still around on the Isle of Man, maybe one its last strongholds.

yes Braula is still on the isle of man,i sometimes come come across it on my bees.i have not noticed it causing any harm to the bees.