Dealing with an apairy of too-defensive colonies

[pargyle]

Two big lessons learnt, never buy bees unless checked over by an inspector first, and don't mess about with fiesty colonies, destruction is better than being sued.

There are people selling bees that should not be sold ... usually to people who are just starting out and it puts them off beekeeping. When it happens to someone who is a beefarmer it just highlights the risks involved. There is nothing worse in beekeeping than the sort of agressive bees you describe - apart from the dreadful task of killing the colonies. Not to mention the cost ...

 

[pargyle]

I've used it to kill redmite in chicken coops - works ok but the mites also live in crevices just outside the coop which it doesn't deal with.
I was using quite large amounts of Sulphur powder in a shallow tray, maybe the small amount needed for a hive would be more manageable.

I use Thornes Sulphur burner and their discs. 2 Discs burn per brood box or stack of 6 supers works well. The discs weigh 5gms so 10gms per treatment works out at about 50p a treatment on the last lot I bought. The burner is just a metal can with holes in it and a lid with a hook to hang the discs on. £10 from thornes but you could easily make your own out of any metal can with a lid.

https://www.thorne.co.uk/health-feeding/pests-diseases/wax-moth/sulphur-burner.html