Thymol recipe against Nosema & fermentation of syrup feed...

[foghornleghorn]

Is it normal for solid crystals to start forming in the emulsified recipe a few hours after making it?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Is it normal for solid crystals to start forming in the emulsified recipe a few hours after making it?

I have never seen them
What did you emulsify with?

 

[foghornleghorn]

I have never seen them
What did you emulsify with?

Soy lecithin, looks perfect and milky when I make it but a few hours later it always starts to form crystals and separate back out

 

[protheroe]

Soy lecithin, looks perfect and milky when I make it but a few hours later it always starts to form crystals and separate back out

Warm it up.it soon dissolves back into liquid.mine always separates when not used for a while

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Warm it up.it soon dissolves back into liquid.mine always separates when not used for a while

same here, no big deal, I just stand it in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.

 

[mickbees23]

It's not Eric's recipe it's Hivemakers. 30g is correct - it's the quantity I've been using the last few years. (it doesn't require the use of matchsticks either!)

I made a **** up 3 years ago and gave them double the dose, you could smell it from the hives 6 feet away. Bees loved it and never missed a beat that winter. LOL.

 

[madasafish]

Warm it up.it soon dissolves back into liquid.mine always separates when not used for a while

I make it up in a jamjar and reheat in warm water . Apply with an eye dropper..
My sugar never ferments..

 

[TooBee...]

...30g in 150 mls isopropyl alcohol ... with a teaspoon of lecithin granules to emulsify the thymol...

Is that quantity right?

30g of Thymol and 150ml (grams) of isopropyl alcohol when the Recipe states,
"30g thymol crystals placed in honey jar, add 5ml of isopropyl alcohol to the crystals..."
surely it would be very difficult to dissolve 30 grams of solid in only 5 grams / mls of liquid?

A couple of paragraphs above the Recipe states,
"...30g of thymol crystals dissolved in 150 of ... isopropyl alcohol..."

So I'm assuming that the Recipe should say 150 ml of isopropyl alcohol in both instances? Just want to be clear, I've never used Thymol before.

 

[Beefriendly]

10gms in 50ml of Isopropanol makes me a 1000X concentrated stock. Just add 1 ml to each litre of syrup (any strength). I leave containers of thymolated 50% Sugar solution in out apiaries all summer and they never go off. I find the lecithin etc not really necessary if all you are wanting to do is stop moulds/bacteria from growing in it.

 

[TooBee...]

...Just add 1 ml to each litre of syrup (any strength). I leave containers of thymolated 50% Sugar solution in out apiaries all summer ...

Hi

1ml, you would measure that out with a Dropper, one droplet equals one mil?

Also if you are leaving Syrup out for the bees all summer doesn't that mean that your honey will have some sugar syrup in it?

 

[TooBee...]

When we are talking about Isopropyl Alcohol, is this what we are talking about, or are we supposed to be using err Food Grade, mmm which I don't think would be advised or sold under the heading of Edible...?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hexeal-Res...=1530282783&sr=8-6&keywords=Isopropyl+Alcohol

 

[Beefriendly]

When we are talking about Isopropyl Alcohol, is this what we are talking about, or are we supposed to be using err Food Grade, mmm which I don't think would be advised or sold under the heading of Edible...?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hexeal-Res...=1530282783&sr=8-6&keywords=Isopropyl+Alcohol

Yes, but you can get it for about half that price on fleabay (including postage).

 

[Beefriendly]

Hi

1ml, you would measure that out with a Dropper, one droplet equals one mil?

Also if you are leaving Syrup out for the bees all summer doesn't that mean that your honey will have some sugar syrup in it?

Nope. One tsp=5ml add to 5 litres in container. Or buy a syringe/pipette etc and use that if you need to . And no mate, even I'm not stupid enough to leave containers of syrup open in an apiary. It's there for feeding and boosting any nuc's I make up or as required elsewhere. It's where I need it to be when I need it, not left behind at home.

 

[Millet]

..

 

[TooBee...]

10gms in 50ml of Isopropanol makes me a 1000X concentrated stock. Just add 1 ml to each litre of syrup (any strength).

The "Emulsified thymol pre mix" recipe, second half of Sticky, has a total of 290ml liquid to 30g of Thymol, meaning 9.66ml liquid to 1g of Thymol.
5ml of mixture is recommended to add to 4.54l of syrup, thats about 1ml per litre.

You add 1ml of mixture per litre, but your using 50ml of liquid to 10g of Thymol, meaning 5ml of liquid to 1g of Thymol. Approximately your adding twice the amount of Thymol than what is recommended, you've not found any issues with taste or tainting of the honey?

NB: There is a PS at the end of the recipe stating that the author has used twice as much (same as you) "with no ill effects on the bee's at all", but your using it more longer term, so I'm just wondering... ALSO have you noticed any ill effects on the Varroa mites?

 

[Beefriendly]

you've not found any issues with taste or tainting of the honey?

Non at all. I don't feed them when they are making honey.

 

[Beefriendly]

NB: There is a PS at the end of the recipe stating that the author has used twice as much (same as you) "with no ill effects on the bee's at all", but your using it more longer term, so I'm just wondering... ALSO have you noticed any ill effects on the Varroa mites?

I think you have totally misunderstood what I was saying. It is stored at out apiaries for when I need it to feed any newly made nucs etc. It lives in sealed 5L containers and is not freely available to any bees. To date has not been required once this year. But is there in case I need it. It has no lecithin, is simpler to make and does not grow mould or bacteria despite being left at air temperature for considerable time periods....like years in some cases.
That is what I do, you should do whatever you wish to do.

 

[TooBee...]

Ah, now I understand, that sounds like a very good idea!

 

[TooBee...]

I know that I'm going slightly of topic here but Beefriendly's idea of leaving a sealed syrup supply at his apiary with Thymol in it to prevent it fermenting got me thinking.

Most beekeepers I know advise leaving a water source beside the hives, however eventually this water will go bad (I know that we have discussed the merits of this practice on the forum before so I don't want to start up a for and against argument...) what if I was to add similar volume / amount of Thymol to the water I supply to them, this water is not added to the nectar, it's not being stored in the hive, it's being used for diluting honey and adding to sugar (blocks) to eat, also for cooling the hive, etc. so it shouldn't affect the honey in the Supers, right? And am I right that it will prolong the life, as it were, of the water?

So for those of you, most of you I suspect, here's the first line of your reply, so you don't have to type it and can get stuck into responding to my question ;-)

You don't need to feed water to bees, they can collect it themselves without you molly cuddling them to death, I've seen bees fly over fresh water and drink from muddy pools...

 

[Erichalfbee]

It has no lecithin, is simpler to make and does not grow mould or bacteria despite being left at air temperature for considerable time periods....like years in some cases.

What’s your recipe without lecithin?
Please.