Bees not taking syrup with thymol

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tkwinston4

Field Bee
Joined
Mar 9, 2009
Messages
535
Reaction score
1
Location
WBC/Smith/National/nucs in Horsham, West Sussex.
Hive Type
Smith
Number of Hives
7
As the title says really. They are a small caste swarm that i have been feeding since day 1. They are undergoing Api Life Var treatment and due to their small size i didnt want to stop feeding during this. This is the first time i have put thymol in their syrup and they are not amused. Some of them have even thrown themselves in the syrup and drowned they are that disgusted with the stuff!

Do you think this is just a thymol overload or are they never going to take the syrup?

I mixed it as it said on the pot from Th****s and if anything i put slightly less in because i thought the smell was so strong.

I dont want the poor little buggers to starve, so do i ditch the syrup or persevere? :ack2:
 
Q's
How old is the colony?
Did you treat with oxalic after hiving but before appreciable sealed brood?
Have you investigated current drop levels prior to treatment?
Do you need to treat for varroa or are you doing a belt and braces? If its belt and braces on such a small colony could your varroa treatment put back your winter bee numbers more than the varroa itself (given you can give oxalic at Xmas)

If you are treating with Api Life Var then that's your chosen varroa treatment this time round.
If you are adding a 'smidgeon' of thymol to extend syrup life fine, if however you are giving them a second full varroa treatment in the form of some sort of Thymolised syrup, concurrent with the Api Life Var then I could understand them having a sulk!

I would not feed while varroa treating if at all possible. If unavoidable then replace with a 2:1 syrup and give them a break from the 'double' tear gas strike!
 
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If its a small mix for nosema treatment you are after then Hivemakers thymoil mix is happilly gobbled by mine at the same time as Apilife Var
 
Thymol in feed

I had a similar experience to this;when I checked back,I had accidentally put too much thymol/surgical spirit solution in the feed.

I removed the feed,cleaned up the feeder, put it back on with the correct mix in,and the Girls started feeding straight away.

Rather interestingly,when the over Thymolled feed was there, the Girls did indeed seem initially to be dying trying to feed on it.

I use a Brother Adam type feeder,and, as it was during an unseasonally warm spell at the time, wondered if the warm weather had caused the fumes to be overpowering.

'Our' seasonal Bee inspector warns against having thymol in the feed during hot weather; he claims that it can,in certain cases,lead to the Bees absconding altogether.

Regards,Michael
 
A full apilife var treatment is probably a bit much for a small cast - I try and measure any thymol treatment to be smaller for small colonies and bigger for big colonies. Only the very biggest colonies here in west wales need a full treatment
 
Some of them have even thrown themselves in the syrup and drowned they are that disgusted with the stuff!

Haha that made me laugh.:D

I aggree with mbc.:iagree:
 
A full apilife var treatment is probably a bit much for a small cast - I try and measure any thymol treatment to be smaller for small colonies and bigger for big colonies. Only the very biggest colonies here in west wales need a full treatment

I am only doing half the treatment recommended. But the syrup had the normal recommended amount of thymol in.:blush5:
 
Easy mistake TKW,I just dont admit to most of mine ;)
That makes me a perfect beekeeper, NOT !
 
If the Thymol mixture is too strong it will 'burn' the bees - poor little bbbb.....gs!
 
thanks,
i had the same problem and was blaming it on the apiguard treatment.
i was a little to liberl with the tymol and bees refused to touch it.
i have replaced it with fresh strup and they are gluping it down
 
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