# Wormwood!



## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Dry the leaves and burn in your smoker.

If the bees don't abscond, check the mite drop.


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## Learning2Bee (Jan 20, 2016)

shinbone said:


> Dry the leaves and burn in your smoker.
> 
> If the bees don't abscond, check the mite drop.


This.

This sounds interesting.


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## funwithbees (Mar 27, 2010)

In Nepal, the beeks there place a sprig of artemesia ( related to wormwood) in each de-queened hive after the honey flow to repel and kill mites during a broodless period . The bees don't like the smell either-the essential oils in the plant are very similar to wormwood. I saw this done in their small apis cerana colonies during the monsoon in the mountains near Jumla, Nepal a few years ago. we also witnessed PMS just like ours when we don't treat. It was a non-swarmy year for them that year. Makes me think that a combo of swarmyness, small colonies and a little mite treatment is the key to apis cerana(native host of varroa) survival, not an actual resistance.:lookout: Maybe our researchers didn't know the language or the Nepalies didn't want to share with us foreigners. Ave honey production of these smaller colonies is 2KG/hive there.
Nick
Gridleyhollow.com


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## funwithbees (Mar 27, 2010)

we also used the artemesia to entice bees to move out of a log hive into a topbar. Also made them a hotter to work with.
Nick


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## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

A paper just came out recently showing promise in controlling Nosema ceranae using wormwood and a related species.

Jean-Marc


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

If they are able to control the mites by burning wormwood in a queen less state then I suppose that
might work here. Of course an alternative option is to make the tea spray or a powder dust on the bees.
Without a queen I'm sure they will not pick up and leave the hive. A good experiment on a queen less hive the
next time. Its closest related cousin is the sweet annie--annu.
The bees go crazy on the sweet annie during the Autumn here as a coworker pointed out to me last year. Maybe they are
gathering pollen or nectar or both?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

In the West we call it "Sage" though it is really "Artemisia" and real sage is "Salvia". I've used it in a smoker. I didn't see any difference between that and any other smoke except it smells better than burlap.  And it's harder for me to come by.


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

the reason absinthe plants work is because it's primary hallucinogenic alkaloid is thymol, and we all know thymol and mites don't mix well.

sage, salvia, and artimisia are 3 different plants always confused due to their naming conventions.


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