# Salt



## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

I would take that information with a grain of salt. If only it was that easy!


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

I've been using salt around my hives for several years and had no SHBs until this year. I now see 4 to 6 beetles in some of my hives, but no severe infestation. However, the salt had no effect on either mite as far as I could tell. Pickling lime can also be used for SHB in the place of salt and some report success with diatomateous earth. I'm switching to pickling lime because the salt brings deer to my hives and I'm afraid they'll knock them over.


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## Darrell Haynes (Sep 13, 2009)

So you are putting it on the ground around the hive, not actually in it?


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

Darrell Haynes said:


> So you are putting it on the ground around the hive, not actually in it?


Yes, I put it on the ground around the hives to kill the larvae when they try to enter the soil to pupate. I also have tried neem oil as a ground drench and it works to some extent. I did sprinkle some salt on the ends of frames and the frame rest area, but I would see beetles in this area anyway, so I stopped that practice. The salt did not appear to offer any control benefit for the adult beetles.


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

I've heard of people using salt on the front boards, never heard of it inside though.


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## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

I also heard that if you mix Red Bull in sugar syrup they collect more honey.   And if you put a TV in the bee yard and loop a Richard Simmons exerciser tape the Bees will live twice as long.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

I haven't tried salt, but if this guy thinks it's working, then more power to him. If it actually works, then good for him.

I run across thousands of these country remedies, homemade cures, etc. None of them have any real proof or empiracle data to back them up. I think a lot of them are coincidental, accidental, providential and circumstantial.

However, with all that negativity, I did have a wart on my thumb that defied all known, modern medical treatments. An old lady suggested I rub it with a potato, at midnight, under a full moon, then bury the potato under a rotten stump.

Having given up all hopes of modern medicine, I tried it. The wart disappeared and has not returned. My doctor blew off my homemade cure and simply said, "Warts are caused by viruses...they come and go."

But I'm a believer! So if it works for this old man, then I'll be glad for his good fortune.

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## Ken&Andria (May 2, 2007)

What happens to the salt? Do the bees remove it from the hive? Do they eat it? Does it end up in the honey? Where exactly does the salt go?


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## JBG (Jul 11, 2009)

CC Miller in 50 years among the bees used salt just for weed control around the hives. If it has anti-mite results as well I think CC would not be surprised.


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

Salt, pickling lime or DE spread on the ground near the hives dehydrates and kills the SHB larva when they fall into as they crawl from the hive. It dries them up like salt on a slug. However, I do not think it is of any benefit to adult SHBs in the hives nor for mites.


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## Bsupplier (Dec 23, 2008)

A fourth generation beekeeper I have spoken to swears by salt. He throws handfulls into the entrance of his solid bottom board hives. He also told me he mixes a handful into a quart of water for a spray. He further says that if you soak your woodenware for a period prior to using that this will also be beneficial. He claims his neighbors suffer with all the usual Varroa and SHB and his hives are relativley free of problems. I have not tried this as I haven't had the need, (knock on wood) but he explained that you always see bees and butterflys on brackish water and doesn't figure it hurts the bees.
As for SHB, agricultural lime spread around your hives will help to disrupt the life cycle. I have a yard set up on 4" of crushed limestone and I have seen only 1 hive beetle this year in 12 hives. Obviously there are more that I dont see, but nowhere near problem levels.


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## JBG (Jul 11, 2009)

What kind of salt solution proportions does he recommend and for how long on the woodenware soaking?


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## Bsupplier (Dec 23, 2008)

I will have to call him and ask.


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

Salt, pepper, cinnamon, flour, soy protein, lemongrass, fgmo, garlic, mint, olive oil, vegetable oil, sugar, hfcs and all the rest of the home remedies and organic fixes (proven or not) for the various problems affecting our bees guarantee that all of us should have a full spice cabinet and condiment shelf in the pantry.
I'm not poking fun, some of this stuff really works, good luck to all and if nothing else when the "significant other" is cooking dinner we won't have to run to the store because we have everything they need for cooking and cleaning in the honey house, leftover from the battles with mites, diseases, and beetles.


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## FordGuy (Jul 10, 2005)

you joke about the red bull, but I believe some flowers have either caffiene or a caffiene effect in the nectar. I think buckwheat is a prime example.


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