Sulphur Discs from Thornes ? needed?

[Martimart]

I've seen a e-shot from Thorne saying that sulphur discs are back in stock, I've never used them before or needed to.

Last year I lent one of my hives for queen rearing and when it came back it was full of wax moth. I've not really done anything with it over winter.

A couple of years ago I'd just dive straight in and get the switch card out and get the snake oil from Thorne, so eventually coming to the point... Are Sulphur Discs for the gullible? How do you remove wax moth?>

 

[Sutty]

Lots of people use sulphur burning for waxmoth. I've used it for fumigation of chicken coops for redmite and it seems to work pretty well for that (though in summer I found redmite on the outside too which explains reinfestation).
I just have a couple of tablespoons of sulphur in a small metal dish resting on a heatproof (but not too heatsinking) surface, light it, close the doors and wait a couple of hours before airing thoroughly.
You could do the same with a hive, just make sure the low blue flame it produces is away from flammable bits!
Not much can survive having it's blood turned into sulphurous acid!
Sulphur powder (flowers of sulphur) can be bought cheaply from horse equipment sellers.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Has any one thought of using thesehttps://www.googleadservices.com/pa...x-K-te-EAxVaWUEAHUWPD7UQwg8oAHoECAQQDA&adurl=

 

[Sutty]

Not a chance!
General "fumigant" insecticide, also toxic to other organisms.
From it's benzene ring it's likely highly soluble in wax.
I'd need to know how completely it is removed over time.
Why experiment when there are well tried & tested alternatives?!

 

[Curly green finger's]

Not a chance!
General "fumigant" insecticide, also toxic to other organisms.
From it's benzene ring it's likely highly soluble in wax.
I'd need to know how completely it is removed over time.
Why experiment when there are well tried & tested alternatives?!

No one’s experimenting I was speaking to a beek that used it in the 80s…

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Has any one thought of using thesehttps://www.googleadservices.com/pa...x-K-te-EAxVaWUEAHUWPD7UQwg8oAHoECAQQDA&adurl=

would anyone be mad enough to? apart from prohibited in the UK, one of the less worrying properties is it is carcinogenic

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Not a chance!
General "fumigant" insecticide, also toxic to other organisms.
From it's benzene ring it's likely highly soluble in wax.
I'd need to know how completely it is removed over time.
Why experiment when there are well tried & tested alternatives?!

and nowadays, any trace found in your wax or honey could land you right in the doodoo up to your neck

 

[pargyle]

I've seen a e-shot from Thorne saying that sulphur discs are back in stock, I've never used them before or needed to.

Last year I lent one of my hives for queen rearing and when it came back it was full of wax moth. I've not really done anything with it over winter.

A couple of years ago I'd just dive straight in and get the switch card out and get the snake oil from Thorne, so eventually coming to the point... Are Sulphur Discs for the gullible? How do you remove wax moth?>

I use sulphur burners with the Thornes sulphur discs and they really do sort out all stages of waxmoth .. I back it up with Dipel and for the last 6 or so years that I've been using this combination in stored brood frames (and dry super frames or ones where there is any sign of moth) I've not had a problem.

 

[Newbeeneil]

As Sutty says Flowers of Sulphur is cheap and does the same job.
https://apcpure.com/product/sulphur...D1o88HVMLUqIoFg-Y4Vl02oOew9MWM04aAhbWEALw_wcB

 

[Martimart]

Lots of people use sulphur burning for waxmoth. I've used it for fumigation of chicken coops for redmite and it seems to work pretty well for that (though in summer I found redmite on the outside too which explains reinfestation).
I just have a couple of tablespoons of sulphur in a small metal dish resting on a heatproof (but not too heatsinking) surface, light it, close the doors and wait a couple of hours before airing thoroughly.
You could do the same with a hive, just make sure the low blue flame it produces is away from flammable bits!
Not much can survive having it's blood turned into sulphurous acid!
Sulphur powder (flowers of sulphur) can be bought cheaply from horse equipment sellers.

Thank you I'll give it a go.

 

[Martimart]

I use sulphur burners with the Thornes sulphur discs and they really do sort out all stages of waxmoth .. I back it up with Dipel and for the last 6 or so years that I've been using this combination in stored brood frames (and dry super frames or ones where there is any sign of moth) I've not had a problem.

Thank you for your post.

 

[Sutty]

No one’s experimenting I was speaking to a beek that used it in the 80s…

From the Dave Cushman site:

"It is no longer acceptable to use PDB to protect combs against wax moth. Current scientific opinion is that its use is injurious to health. PDB is both wax and water soluble, then released into honey when stored in combs. In the U.K., no trace of PDB is permitted in honey. There will be many books, leaflets, articles, etc in circulation for some years to come. Beekeepers are strongly advised to avoid the use of PDB."

 

[Curly green finger's]

From the Dave Cushman site:

"It is no longer acceptable to use PDB to protect combs against wax moth. Current scientific opinion is that its use is injurious to health. PDB is both wax and water soluble, then released into honey when stored in combs. In the U.K., no trace of PDB is permitted in honey. There will be many books, leaflets, articles, etc in circulation for some years to come. Beekeepers are strongly advised to avoid the use of PDB."

Thanks sutty very informative, folk use to do some stupid things in the 80s shocking really.

Thanks again

 

[JamezF]

Thanks sutty very informative, folk use to do some stupid things in the 80s shocking really.

Too true. Just look at what they used to wear

I'm sure people were still talking about using mothballs to kill waxmoth when I did my beginners' course almost twenty years ago. I don't know if some people were still doing it at the time, but they clearly had done so in the recent past.

James

 

[Curly green finger's]

Too true. Just look at what they used to wear

I'm sure people were still talking about using mothballs to kill waxmoth when I did my beginners' course almost twenty years ago. I don't know if some people were still doing it at the time, but they clearly had done so in the recent past.

James

Id never heard of moth balls being used for wax moth before untill the other day, the 80s were great no internet children use to get upto all manner of things, it frustrates me these days to see future generations so obsessed with screen time and the loss of there connection with the natural world.

 

[Erichalfbee]

t frustrates me these days to see future generations so obsessed with screen time and the loss of there connection with the natural world.

I have rose coloured spectacles too but it’s a digital world.
There are still plenty of young kids with that connection they just don’t make the press.

 

[Sutty]

, it frustrates me these days to see future generations so obsessed with screen time and the loss of there connection with the natural world.

I would agree so some extent. A few years ago I saw a teenager wearing a T-shirt which said "I went outside once - the graphics were awful", seemed to sum it up!
On the flip side, since the pandemic there seems to be a lot more young people walking in the hills, which is great!

 

[JamezF]

A few years ago I saw a teenager wearing a T-shirt which said "I went outside once - the graphics were awful", seemed to sum it up!

I think I've also seen that t-shirt. I have to disagree with the sentiment however. The graphics are so good that it almost looks real.

I suspect there's a backlash coming at some point in the not-too-distant future and there'll be children telling their parents "Spending half your life in front of a screen like you do is soooo boring. I want to actually do something real, like they showed us in history lessons".

By then of course reality will probably have been outsourced to "Meta" so it will make no difference. Or the machines will have taken over. Matrix, or Terminator?

James

 

[warsaw_hive]

I suspect there's a backlash coming at some point in the not-too-distant future and there'll be children telling their parents "Spending half your life in front of a screen like you do is soooo boring. I want to actually do something real, like they showed us in history lessons".

I'm practically at that point already. Do I actually enjoy looking at the internet? Probably not, it's just habit.

The 'dead internet theory' doesn't seem like the wild theory anymore. I realise it is a little bit hypercritical to complain about this since I own a website that has largely been written by machine, but I'm genuinely questioning if some of the people on here are real. There has definitely been the odd bot that has resurrected an old thread; easy to spot although some people have been oblivious to this and added a few extra pages of comments. But get a more chatty bot, one that is replying on current threads and I think I would struggle to tell. I'm not sure if I was insulted by one on the vandalism thread.

I've been pondering what beekeeping question can be asked to identify a human? A machine has access to practically every book ever written as well as every website.

 

[BeeKeyPlayer]

I've been pondering what beekeeping question can be asked to identify a human? A machine has access to practically every book ever written as well as every website.

I asked ChatGPT about TA in honey. It came back with a load of guff about 'Target acidity'. It was hugely apologetic when I pointed out that the abbreviation meant Target activity.