HM thymol treatment

[wightbees]

I am on my second batch of HM thymol treatment but when i was adding the new oasis the old stuff hadn't been chew or anything . So i left it there and just added the next lot .I am only using half dose as they are not that big a colony.
Is it normal for them to leave the stuff alone i thought they would try to get rid of it ?
They seem happy enough lots of flying bees and pollen coming in.

 

[daveandtara]

Hi,
I can't answer your question I'm afraid but, being a florist, just wanted to point out that florist's oasis contains some very nasty chemicals including quite high levels of formaldehyde.
There has been a lot of controversy lately surrounding it's use in our industry.
Just thought I'd mention it.
Tara.

 

[Queens59]

Mine didn't eat it/shred it either, but HM said that some try to get rid of it and some ignored it, si I don't think you need to worry.

 

[winmag270]

some of mine have chewed it, some haven't, some have chewed it more than others....

some colonies have propolised the edges of the oasis, but i think that is apiar specific to be fair and the propolised remains have been chewed, part chewed and non chewed within that apiaries that have propolised, or not

none have appeared to have had any ill effects from it (apart from some lil red mites that is!)

 

[SixFooter]

I used 2 paper towels instead of oasis. Bees left it, but it's working as there is a big drop

 

[winmag270]

I used 2 paper towels instead of oasis. Bees left it, but it's working as there is a big drop

i might try that next time i treat

 

[Hivemaker.]

Hi,
I can't answer your question I'm afraid but, being a florist, just wanted to point out that florist's oasis contains some very nasty chemicals including quite high levels of formaldehyde.
There has been a lot of controversy lately surrounding it's use in our industry.
Just thought I'd mention it.
Tara.

Thank you for pointing this out...never had any problems with oasis regards the bee's health,and have been using it for many years on large numbers of colonys. Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance in the environment, and is one of the important elements of honey bee venom,and is even getting spewed out by vehicle exhaust fumes all over the world. Formaldehyde is very widely used chemical,found in many thousands of products from plywood to plastic.