Lemon grass oil

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MrB

Drone Bee
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Aug 25, 2009
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Location
Oswestry, Shropshire, UK
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On my next inspection, if the bees have not drawn out a few more of the BB frames i was thinking of spraying the frames with a mist of 1:1 syrup and a little lemon grass oil, firstly, any views on this and how much oil would i use in a 960ml spray bottle?

Many thanks
 
Hi mr b
Is your LGO food grade ? If so where did you get yours? I couldn't get any locally, had to boil some lemongrass in the end to get the extract.
Lots of LGO for oil burners but nowt I can use in syrup.
 
Hi mr b
Is your LGO food grade ?

Good point, its pure essential oil lemon grass, not sure if that means food grade or not, i shall try to find out although its to get them to draw out the BB frames, not for a honey super.
 
It could be toxic to the bees if you pop it in syrup.? It's worth checking.
I was miss sold some oil this year and had to buy the lemongrass and boil it to make my own in the end.
I was hoping you had found a source.
 
grizzly,
Just rang the shop where i got it and they gave me the number of the manufacturer, rang them and they have assured me that it IS food grade.
 
Although it might be pure, like many things when used in concentrations that nature did not make them in, they often become toxic.

I would just stick with the 1:1 sugar spray.

But might there not be another reason why they will not draw out?
 
I have started doing this, right or wrong. I find that the bees 'find' the syrup much quicker and if sprayed onto frames makes sure there is a reason for them to start on them (if only to clean them up)

1 drop per Kg of sugar used in 1-1 syrup

Lemongrass oil source used - Boots aromatherapy range (about £3.50 I think?)

We should keep this in context I think. Just add enough so that the syrup has some 'odour' to attract the bees, nothing more, so dilution is massive. As far as 'is it harmful' again context is everything ..... certainly no more than a 3.2% oxalic acid in sugar treatment or Fumidil etc etc would be!
 
But might there not be another reason why they will not draw out?

Yes of course there may bee, suggestions gratefully recieved!.this is purley hypethetical at the moment as when i next open the hive it could be full of drawn frames.
 
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Effectively this thread is about bees not drawing out brood combs. They are doing it for the same reason they do not go up to supers and work in them.

They are not strong enough and or it is too cold.

If that is the case you can play with fancy smells till the cows come home and it winna make nae odds at a... in other words a complete waste of time.

Bees will make progress when they are fit to and the weather suits.

I cannot emphasise this enough but in the UK our weather if more against us than for us and it HAS to be constantly in our minds.

Yes you can get stale foundation, yes you can get bees which are not keen on wax work but most often the hold back element is as above, strength and coolness.

I was asked to comment on this thread.

PH
 
Effectively this thread is about bees not drawing out brood combs. They are doing it for the same reason they do not go up to supers and work in them.

They are not strong enough and or it is too cold.

If that is the case you can play with fancy smells till the cows come home and it winna make nae odds at a... in other words a complete waste of time.

Bees will make progress when they are fit to and the weather suits.

I cannot emphasise this enough but in the UK our weather if more against us than for us and it HAS to be constantly in our minds.

Yes you can get stale foundation, yes you can get bees which are not keen on wax work but most often the hold back element is as above, strength and coolness.

I was asked to comment on this thread.

PH



Strength, coolness.........and a flow/feed.
 
Effectively this thread is about bees not drawing out brood combs. They are doing it for the same reason they do not go up to supers and work in them.
PH

No I disagree, that is one aspect but not the only one. Sugar solution does not advertise its pressence, that is why most of us slop some into a hive when adding a feeder. Giving the sugar some other advert is effective at making its pressence known. Whether once the bees know it is there they choose to use it is another matter and then reverts to the point you make.
 
Sugar solution does not advertise its pressence

Well i would never believe that.........when taking tanks of sugar syrup around in the autumn the truck is absolutly alive with bee's..........so if you spill a few litres around your apairy you rekon your bee's won't find it then.
 
No comparison in scenarios hivemaker, locked in a feeder that wasn't originally there, where they wont immediate look or out and about in close proximity to a hive where the would naturally look anyway. They will find it in a feeder of course .... eventually, I am questioning whether advertising its pressence means they find it quicker, clearly they must .... if you believe lemongrass is the right advert of course.
 
No never had to add anything to syrup just so the bee's can find it,beekeepers have been feeding sugar syrup to bee's in feeders for decades and decades,without needing to add anything in it at all. Do the bee's really need to find the syrup in a feeder in seconds or something......is it some race against time,if your bee's are really that starving then your better pouring some syrup over them.
 
No not a race, my motivation is surity (I'll come back to that) Hivemaker, but from my viewpoint more an experiment (and I don't mind if it fails!). I dont have the luxury of immediate and full week access to my bees, my workload means that 1/wk can be difficult/missed. I bought lemongrass this year for bait hive use and simply wondered if it could stimulate feeding/drawing activity in the same way. Too late for the perfect experiment this year but I might try a comparison on common splits to nucs next yr (with / without).

Why surity? If I am unexpectedly detained away on business then having greater confidence that a treatment / feed (or what ever) has been given when I wanted it to be and the syrup has been utilised before going mouldy helps me manage my bees, if eliminating the time variable/lag with regard feed recognition improves that then good. I am paid to experiment and question, I'm simply doing what comes naturally. If you are satisfied with the feed status quo then thats great, if I can make my husbandry fit my lifestyle better then that is surely great as well?

Dont tell me you haven't tweaked a hive design because you think it's a better solution than the original!

If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we always got!
 

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