Thymol in syrup

[Appinpiper]

At the risk of showing what a novice I am I have the following question to ask.
Should I be adding thymol to the feed at this time of the year? I have been advised that a teaspoon of the made up solution to the gallon is the correct amount but I am worried in case the honey gets tainted. I have treated the hive with apiguard last September and have treated with oxcalic in December. I do not appear to have a varroa problem.
I would welcome any constructive comments

 

[Hivemaker.]

Should I be adding thymol to the feed at this time of the year?

No.

 

[beesleybees]

At the risk of showing what a novice I am I have the following question to ask.
Should I be adding thymol to the feed at this time of the year? I have been advised that a teaspoon of the made up solution to the gallon is the correct amount but I am worried in case the honey gets tainted. I have treated the hive with apiguard last September and have treated with oxcalic in December. I do not appear to have a varroa problem.
I would welcome any constructive comments

as hivemaker said, no!!

reason being is bees at this time of year will be hopefully bringing nectar in to make honey. Adding thymol to syrup which bees are feeding on will cause the honey and empty frames to become tainted with thymol. not good, the stuff stinks!!

 

[winmag270]

ok, slightly different scenario.....

feeding a shook swarm, same question as the OP......?

 

[BILL.HEARD]

No.

 

[Appinpiper]

Thanks all for your replies it is as I thought I shall not be taking any notice of my so called adviser any more

 

[djg]

Whoops, confession-time...

I have very slow Spring build-up (after bustling colonies in late Winter) through persistent nosema and a heavier-than-normal starting varroa load. Very small brood areas, but Q+ and correct.

I have a feeder on each hive with syrup, fumidil B, a dab of Vitafeed Gold and a pinch of Hivemaker's thymol emulsion recipe (looking at the uncertain weather forecast, it seemed sensible). I'm a long way from adding any supers, sadly.

OK, so it's a bit of a witches' brew, but while the bees build up and draw out the odd outer frame of foundation, with the thymol in the syrup confined to the brood frames, is this likely to taint any future honey crop ?

 

[beesleybees]

Whoops, confession-time...

OK, so it's a bit of a witches' brew, but while the bees build up and draw out the odd outer frame of foundation, with the thymol in the syrup confined to the brood frames, is this likely to taint any future honey crop ?

Im still a relative newb so im sure someone with more experience will answer this too but ill give my opinion

yes i think theres quite a high chance it will taint any future honey even though you say its restricted to the brrod frames. For a start, the stuff really stinks and the fumes get everywhere. Even if you have no supers on now, what stops the bees storing any of this syrup in the brood frames and then transfering it to the supers

ive read many time on here that any stores in the brood frames that contain thymol, should be removed in the spring after treating during the autum

 

[peteinwilts]

ok, slightly different scenario.....

feeding a shook swarm, same question as the OP......?

I feed leftover frames of thymolised syrup to NUC's if and when required, for AS's, and for caught swarms.

I performed a shook swarm a few weeks ago (when it was warm), and gave them a couple of frames in case the weather turned cold. I am glad I did!

 

[peteinwilts]

yes i think theres quite a high chance it will taint any future honey even though you say its restricted to the brrod frames. For a start, the stuff really stinks and the fumes get everywhere. Even if you have no supers on now, what stops the bees storing any of this syrup in the brood frames and then transfering it to the supers

Apart from the smell is there any difference whilst feeding with sugar syrup?

The management should be the same, as you want neither in the honey.

 

[djg]

Thanks for your comments, one and all.

Here's a thought: what if you were treating for Varroa now with a Thymol-based product like ApiLife Var ?

Strikes me that you'd have a much greater thymol taint in the brood frames than the 5ml/gallon recommended by Hikemaker's nosema emulsion.

I'm not convinced that 5ml thymol emulsion / gallon of syrup going into the BB now is going to give any taint to honey in supers with drawn comb, which in my case, is 6 weeks - 2 months away, if I'm lucky.

Given the nosema and slow-build up here, I'm keeping the feeders on for now. But I'll keep listening to advice and prepare to be persuaded otherwise...

 

[Beeline]

I'm eating some honey that was present in the super when I applied the Apiguard last year and can honestly say I don't mind the slight thyme/ herb flavour.

In your case where you are applying a very small dose of Thymol into feed for brood stores I honestly wouldn't worry.

 

[Mike a]

I'm eating some honey that was present in the super when I applied the Apiguard last year and can honestly say I don't mind the slight thyme/ herb flavour.

You should be well protected from Nosema and Varroa then.
Hope your not selling it to the public?

 

[MandF]

The ironic thing here is that if you were to sell it as Thyme Honey, lots of people would buy it out of choice!!

 

[Finman]

.
If you have thymol stinking store frames, uncap the combs and soak into 35C water. Keep there 2 hours or over night.

When the stores dilutess off, shake the frames empty.
Wash them again with pure water.

Stuff is only value of sugar and to get into use those combs is more valuable.

 

[Luminos]

You should be well protected from Nosema and Varroa then.
Hope your not selling it to the public?

 

[For want of a better word]

.
If you have thymol stinking store frames, uncap the combs and soak into 35C water. Keep there 2 hours or over night.

When the stores dilutess off, shake the frames empty.
Wash them again with pure water.

Stuff is only value of sugar and to get into use those combs is more valuable.

You could then add more sugar and feed to NUCS
​

 

[MJBee]

I had a couple of gallons of 2:1 thymolated syrup in the freezer from last autumn. I diluted it with the same volume of water and have been feeding artificial swarms with it. The thymol is now so diluted that you can hardly smell it, plus it is being used to draw comb and not much is being stored.

 

[Mothman]

Pear Drops

Just a thought, but I'm sure someone on here mentioned adding a little Thymol to 1:1 syrup to give it a 'flavour / smell' so that the bees would find it in a contact feeder. Given all the comments above and elsewhere that Thymol is a bad thing to add unless treating the bees for something has anyone tried adding a pear drop to make the feed more appealing to bees? (It works for moths!)

 

[Black Comb]

The usual reason for putting a few drops in syrup is to stop it fermenting.