Hivemaker Autumn Thymol Treatment

[drstitson]

yes.

 

[BILL.HEARD]

"tampons (regular)"

aren't they rather expensive? or do you rely on the applicators to insert through crownboard holes?

i'll stick with my folded kitchen roll.

32 for £1.20

 

[SixFooter]

Is there any reason I'm missing as to why the HM recipe mixes by weight and dispenses by volume? 12g oil plus 8g of thymol, but 20ml per pad. I can see it might suit a large scale operation to dispense with an autosyringe (even if the seals need replacing periodically). What's the weight of thymol per 20ml dose on the pad? Or is 20g of mix close enough to 20ml to be a good approximation if we find it easier to do it all by weight?

Not complaining, but this makes estimating quantities difficult. Thymol came in 100g tubs and I mixed 2 tubs with 300g of oil, but this gave me far too many treatments. I guess the spares will store. I've put 20ml doses onto paper towels and wrapped them in tin foil. Will these keep in jars?
btw, the instructions said to mix outdoors, but I ignored this. It's taken 3 days for the smell to disappear from the kitchen!

 

[drstitson]

the point is that 8g+12g gives a single 20ml dose.

so 100g tub gives 12.5 x 20ml doses.

200g = 25 doses.

ie just about perfect for 12 hives.

 

[Foxylad]

Ive used api Life var over the past few years. But this year with 8 hives, ive given hivemakers recipe a go.

Am i right that this will last two weeks, api Life var was a weekly treatment.

Also would the dose be increased for a commercial or brood and a half? if so how much?

 

[itma]

... but this makes estimating quantities difficult. ...

Better to measure than estimate.

The recent Aldi £9 kitchen scale will measure some kg (was it 5?) with a 1g precision (I'm not promising 1g accuracy...)
The same sort of money will get you a 'pocket scale' from eBay, weighing only a few hundred grams but to a precision of at least 1/100 th of a gram, and certainly an accuracy of much better than a gram.
Such things have uses far beyond whatever was your original excuse for purchase!

 

[peteinwilts]

the point is that 8g+12g gives a single 20ml dose.

so 100g tub gives 12.5 x 20ml doses.

200g = 25 doses.

ie just about perfect for 12 hives.

apart from the instructions on the sticky recommend 3 doses!

 

[drstitson]

"apart from the instructions on the sticky recommend 3 doses!"

ok - but if 36 doses are needed this season then 200g thymol is not enough.

the majority of use make up our solution and keep it in a sealed jar until we need to use it to either make the next set of oasis pads OR to squirt on kitchen towel immediately before putting it into the hive.

 

[alanf]

Not complaining, but this makes estimating quantities difficult. Thymol came in 100g tubs and I mixed 2 tubs with 300g of oil, but this gave me far too many treatments. I guess the spares will store.

That was why I asked. I bought some thymol for use in thymolated feed. I was thinking of giving the mix a try in a hive or two, a small scale trial if you like. Some association apiary rules insist on a registered varroa treatment, so it's not always possible to use the HM formula alone. Making up enough to use in a single batch seemed to be the way to go, without either running short or having to store or dispose of excess. It cuts down on waste and clearing up if all the measurements can be done on the scales using the tare function.

I see Apilife Var has 8g of thymol per strip and the suggested dose is 4 strips at weekly intervals per hive. That would be 32g of thymol total. Apiguard has 12.5g of thymol per 50g gel dose or 25g at 2 doses per hive. Thymovar is 15g thymol, 2 applications in one box is 30g. I realise the exact dose cannot be critical, given that it's treating a wide range of box sizes but it's a general indication that all the treatments are in the same ball park.

 

[drstitson]

Can never have too much thymol ready for mixing up stuff at this time of year IMHO. keeps fine as crystals and smells lovely.

an aside - judging by the comment by the pleased looking beek in the new adverts in the bee press HM's OWN winter feed no longer contains just thymol!!!!

 

[herefordshirehoney]

Can never have too much thymol ready for mixing up stuff at this time of year IMHO. keeps fine as crystals and smells lovely.

an aside - judging by the comment by the pleased looking beek in the new adverts in the bee press HM's OWN winter feed no longer contains just thymol!!!!

Smell's lovely? Not sure what you've been taking =)

 

[drstitson]

i also love(d) the smell of creosote (of which thymol is vaguely reminiscent).

DOI: when you smell what i do at work most other things are nice!!!!

 

[Poly Hive]

Cycled past a guy spraying a fence with the stuff last week... and it was the real stuff... it was........pungent to say the least.

Also had the "luck" to taste a bit of cut comb out of a super which has not been ventilated too well.... it actually burnt my mouth.

Best avoided.

PH

 

[Norton]

I love the smell of thymol in the morning..................it smells like.....................it smells like victory!

 

[drstitson]

agree norton - much prefer kitchen to be filled with thymol vapour than odour of cat pee.

in my book thymol odour shares organoleptic properties with this:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pio9oeSMiO8[/ame]

or

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH-FvbDEhRo[/ame]

personally being falklands generation rather than WW2 the latter raises a tear every time.

 

[Norton]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jts9suWIDlU[/ame]

 

[drstitson]

i'm sure rab will agree that the Harriers are solely missed.

(even though they did have a habit of surprising you when driving past).

 

[Norton]

Being ex RAF, I too miss the Vulcan howl.

 

[For want of a better word]

I miss that unmistakeable aroma of Castrol R and that wonderful sound of a Matchless G50 on full chat.. sweeping into Paddock bend with your right knee inches from the ground....

 

[drstitson]

don't get OH started - past life etc etc.