# tea tree oil



## Levi's Bees (Feb 7, 2014)

i am making sugar board using 2:1 syrup how many drops of tea tree oil should i use in a gollon of 2:1 sugar syrup ?


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

In my opinion... A Big Fat Zero.
I went through a phase where I used EO's but grew out of it. I didn't see any benefit of using them, and so stopped after a few years. If you want to give it a try, go for it, but I can't give any recommendation as to how much.


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## rmcpb (Aug 15, 2012)

Ray is giving you good advice. If you think about it the bees work hard to make an atmosphere /smell in their hive. Why would you stick a smelly substance in there that they will have to try to remove. It would just add another stress to the hive.


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## johnwratcliff (Feb 24, 2015)

EO are very effective if used properly. There are many folks that use them. You will get a ton of opinions here. The real question why do you want to use tea tree oil? Then find a recipe. You will have to figure out how to mix oil and water. But ask why you want to use it.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

EOs are bad for bees, they destroy the bee's probiotic making them vulnerable to disease. One old study that is often brought up from WVU in 1996 showed a 4 part protocol including formic acid (which was already known to be effective against mites). 

Randy Oliver quotes "essential oils are so much *fun to play with*, numerous beekeepers have indulged in *kitchen chemistry *to mix up varroa treatments. We don’t hear much from those who kill their bees outright, nor from those whose colonies die later due to lack of efficacy or *colony stress *due to the treatment. Those whose bees survive for a season generally post their recipe to the internet, where it gains a *cyberlife, independent of its actual efficacy*."

Study after study, every EO that you can imagine has been tested for decades, they all boil down to conclude that one ingredient found in one EO will kills the most mites with "least bee mortality" thymol and it is only given as a time release vapor not added to feed. 

Please do your research before you force feed your bees pesticides!


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

johnwratcliff said:


> EO are very effective if used properly. There are many folks that use them. You will get a ton of opinions here. The real question why do you want to use tea tree oil? Then find a recipe. You will have to figure out how to mix oil and water. But ask why you want to use it.


There are many folks who Smoke, drink in excess, take drugs, and do all sorts of things. That does not mean it is wise! Just sayin.


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## JustKrispy (Jan 8, 2016)

Tea tree oil is a natural fungicide. No need to put it into feed.


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## Levi's Bees (Feb 7, 2014)

to help prevent nosema . i just heard some use it ?


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## johnwratcliff (Feb 24, 2015)

if you want to learn read. if you want to raise bees, do what works for you. i'm not a fan of treating. I think we are just breeding better mites. bees have been around a long time. Michael Bush has some interesting reading on his site. Levi have a look.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesnotreatments.htm


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## Slow Drone (Apr 19, 2014)

! teaspoon per gallon for nosema.


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