# Wintergreen for Varroa control, via UWV



## Hogback Honey

Found this on line about the use of Wintergreen in syrup/honey. Looks like they feed this, 25 drops per qt of syrup, or honey water mix. Seems awful strong, they don't say they use this to mix with syrup to make more, as in add a Tbsp or so to a gallon of more of a separate syrup mix. I'll look into it further, but anyone have any input?


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## AR Beekeeper

Yes, I tried wintergreen back in the 90s, all I did was kill a lot of brood, with no effect on the varroa mites. A lot of those older studies did not pan out in real life beekeeping.


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## drlonzo

I use it in my early spring syrup and late fall 2:1 mix. However the bees won't take it very well unless you use lemongrass oil with it. I didn't have a major problem with varroa mites but also used OAV in november. I read those studdies myself and it seems they used the wintergreen/spearmint/lemongrass to help colonies that were not so healthy. I don't know if they were really trying to get rid of mites, but the wintergreen does help with them a bit.


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## FlowerPlanter

replied to your post in a different thread concerning WVU 1996 study.
here; http://www.beesource.com/forums/sho...ghting-mites-with-syrup&p=1331231#post1331231

EOs don't work on mites in bee food. That's why there are products (such as Apiguard) that are time release vapors of thymol (not a feed).

Wintergreen is also associated with queen loss, you don't want to use that in the fall. You will have a spring dead out for unknow reasons.


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## Hogback Honey

Thanks all you've been a great help. I OAV, have completed one round, as in 5 or so treatments 5 days apart each. And was looking into anything else that may help. I'll OAV again in Nov.


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## jcolon

So in conclusion, wintergreen and OAV will get you mite free. :scratch:


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## Rusty Hills Farm

jcolon said:


> So in conclusion, wintergreen and OAV will get you mite free. :scratch:


Wintergreen may get you queen-free. For the record I do feed EOs--just not wintergreen and not to control mites.

JMO

Rusty


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## aunt betty

Nearly ordered wintergreen by accident when I bought stuff to make my own HbH. That'd have been a disaster. It's spearmint and that stuff eliminates tracheal mites is what I heard.
Spearmint and lemongrass, not lemon, not wintergreen
Careful with what you put in the syrup.


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## ruthiesbees

I'm using Anise oil in my feed. About 10 drops per 1/2 gallon of 2:1. Bees love it. It was referenced in some WVA study or somewhere else that I can't find the original documentation anymore (maybe in the downloads of my old laptop). Anise oil was about 1/2 way down the list of essential oils that they tried and had some effect on varroa mites. I have not noticed any problems with queens or anything else when I use this. If someone else remembers the study, I'd love to get a copy of it again.


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## FlowerPlanter

>It's spearmint and that stuff eliminates tracheal mites is what I heard.

It's menthol crystals or just a plain grease patty.
I don't believe there are any tracheal mites left, and they're certainly not a problem for 99.99% beeks. Any treatment that is done for varroa will probably wipe out tracheal mites too. I would not expose your bees to EOs or pesticide to treat for a ghost.

Blindly treating by putting random amounts of random EOs in syrup without knowing the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of what being treated is just breeding supper bugs and possibly damaging your bees, making them more vulnerable to diseases (there are studies that prove this).


"Careful with what you put in the syrup."


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## dsegrest

The only problem I've had with Tracheal mites was on my journeyman's test.


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## ruthiesbees

I found the paper that I referenced earlier about using Anise oil. It mentions Thyme, cinnamon, lemongrass and formic acid as well.

http://textroad.com/Old%20version/pdf/JBASR/J.%20Basic.%20Appl.%20Sci.%20Res.,%202(8)7674-7680,%202012.pdf


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## FlowerPlanter

ruthiesbees said:


> I found the paper that I referenced earlier about using Anise oil. It mentions Thyme, cinnamon, lemongrass and formic acid as well.
> 
> http://textroad.com/Old%20version/pdf/JBASR/J.%20Basic.%20Appl.%20Sci.%20Res.,%202(8)7674-7680,%202012.pdf


Interesting study, and quite possibly an alternative mite treatment. If you don't mind the extra treatments and extra work in placing it directly in the brood nest.

The sampling they took (4 hive per EO/formic and 100 bees) was too small to determine which EO or formic is better. We already know formic works there are many products, DIY pads, fume boards...We also have EO products that use thymol as a vapor.

Nothing in this study says you should feed your bees formic acid or EOs. It was use as a vapor "enough to saturate one stripe of cotton (1x2cm) and held in one comb between the brood nest of each tested colony. Each tested colony was treated four times at 12 days intervals from the beginning of experiment."

The only thing you can expect to achieve by feeding your mites a sub-lethal dose of EOs are super mites that are resident to EOs. 

We already have mites resistant to some treatment.


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## Phoebee

Interesting about anise. We have two kinds of bee forage that produce anise, an agastache (anise hyssop) and one other I can't remember. Also various mints and herbs. I've often wondered if bees ever self medicate.


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## ruthiesbees

Pimpinella anisum is what is mentioned in the article. There is also star anise. I have used both when I put it in their spring/fall syrup or spray bottle to inspect the hive (I don't use smoke). The bees love either one, although honeybeesuite.com says that it has to be P. anisum. So agastache is another one completely. It certainly is worth a try. I understand that the bees don't care for the thymol or wintergreen when they are put on disks in their hive. although I have to say, I've never put the straight oil in the beehive. I don't have a mite issue in my hives, but I also use a June/July brood break and I dust all frames with powdered sugar, and cut out large spots of drone brood at certain times during the year.


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## Flintliddon

the way I heard it was to use the mixture of lemongrass oil, spearmint , thyme and sugar water (1:1 or 1.5:1) and soak a paper towel with the mixture. put the paper towel underneath the top board and resting directly on the frames. it was explained that the action of the bees touching and rubbing up against the mixture kills the mites. haven't tried it yet. plan to.


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## Flintliddon

and btw, Peppermint will work just as well


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## Nabber86

EO's - the fantasy answer to all of life's problems.


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## FlowerPlanter

This is why thymol was chosen for a mite treatment; It kills less bees than mites. 

Don't be fooled by the word "ESSENTIAL" it is toxic to bees and larva both; 

https://www.researchgate.net/public..._and_adult_worker_honey_bees_Apis_mellifera_L

Spearmint look pretty weak I would imagine peppermint is the same. Does not look like it kills very many mites. You would be exposing your bees to toxins for what? A 20% mite drop?


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## Brad Bee

Nabber86 said:


> EO's - the fantasy answer to all of life's problems.


Most definitely.


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## aunt betty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_Ecmciv9zI


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## BadBeeKeeper

> the way I heard it was...


You know it has to be the gospel truth when it starts like this ^^^^^


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