# Fogging bees for mites - The Fat Bee man does it. Do you?



## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Don doesn't care about honey so it probably doesn't matter to him.


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

Is there any a study, using the scientific method, concluding this really works?


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I think it was all the hype years ago and then off to the wayside it went.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Fogging with thymol in the fgmo was popular among some members when I first joined the forum. I have a pristine Bonide fogger that has never been used...

Does Don K. consider fgmo fogging as being "organic"?


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Works for me


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

I have read a few white papers saying that fogging with FGMO doesn't work. I consider it a fad that has past. Will never try it myself.


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## Katharina (May 2, 2011)

Talked to the Oregon State entomologist who does research in honey bees. He said does work well at all, but he referred me to a beekeeper that has lot of experience in it and did it for year. That beekeeper stopped doing so. He said it was a lot of work, plus his foggers went up into flames a couple of times. Not a nice thing when that happens. He also stated that there are much better products out now. All of them beat the fogging.


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## Solomon Parker (Dec 21, 2002)

DonShackelford said:


> Does anyone here do this?


I do not in fact. The thing that always gets me is that Don will refuse to use plastic frames on the grounds that they are unnatural and yet proves FGMO is okay by drinking it from a plastic bottle. :lpf:




Lburou said:


> Is there any a study, using the scientific method, concluding this really works?


The nationwide poll referenced in TFB showed little if any difference between people who used it and people who didn't if I remember correctly. However, that is not a scientific study. But the sample size is pretty good.




BeeCurious said:


> Does Don K. consider fgmo fogging as being "organic"?


I believe so.




Keth Comollo said:


> Will never try it myself.


Nor will I. It was a thing when I started as well, but I decided that totally treatment free was the only way to go. Here I am nine years later with more hives than I know what to do with and no need for FGMO or any other treatment 'natural' or otherwise. I had kept trying to get Don to go off the stuff, but it seems to him, treatment-free is a little nuts. As far as I can tell, since it doesn't work, he's already treatment free, he keeps treating anyway.:shhhh:


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Just wondering why Don has to fog his small cell bees with anything.


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

I am wondering the same thing. Hopefully he makes a video so that we can learn more. Paypal accepted.


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

Lburou said:


> Is there any a study, using the scientific method, concluding this really works?


NO there was never any BIG money put up to study it sooooooo


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## oldreliable (Jan 29, 2011)

First off why are you all knocking Don. I really enjoy Don and trust his knowledge over most of anyone else. Treatment free..who knows.....I tried fogging this last month and knocked a huge mite problem in the dirt.. Mineral Oil is natural and not chemical. you must apply a at least 3 times one week apart. of each app........ It does not kill mites in only aides them dropping off and lowering mite count. WORKS FOR ME and a lot better then putting treatments into a hive. t should not effect your honey...because you treat mites in the spring or fall.. ok off my peach box....here's to not treating at all if you can!


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Here's something to ponder.
My uncle, who has kept bees (up to 75 hives) for 30 years, (yes 30 years) uses FGMO and a fogger as his only treatment. He has some of the most healthy looking bees and huge populations of them in each and every hive.
As we (MI) lost 60% to 70% of our bee hives last winter.... he lost 0.
He either must know something we don't or he's extremely lucky.

This year is a test for the fogging technique for me. As it stands now, there is a huge difference on mite counts before and after fogging. How can one argue these results? Coincidence? 
We will see how it all pans out in the spring.
For those that have not tried this treatment methodology..... you probably didn't like steak before you tried it either.
Beecurious... I'll take that fogger off your hands and put it to good use. lol


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

So soon forgotten!

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?283157-Started-fogging-today&highlight=fogging

Note how it APPEARED to work ... until it didn't. Try it if you must but be prepared.

JMO

Rusty


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Remember, Don may still fog with FGMO, but he also uses OA.


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## Ledge (Dec 15, 2010)

Mineral oil is a byproduct of the manufacture of gasoline. That means that it is just as natural as ammonia, vasoline, and chemical fertilizer. Cyanide and lead are even more natural than that. The notion of something being "natural" making it safe always made me laugh. I don't know whether fogging works or not, but I always got a kick out of that notion.


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## Chemguy (Nov 26, 2012)

Ledge said:


> Mineral oil is a byproduct of the manufacture of gasoline. That means that it is just as natural as ammonia, vasoline, and chemical fertilizer. Cyanide and lead are even more natural than that. The notion of something being "natural" making it safe always made me laugh. I don't know whether fogging works or not, but I always got a kick out of that notion.


Agreed. It is the dose that makes the poison. The notion that something which is found naturally is automatically benign or even beneficial is false.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

> Mineral Oil is natural and not chemical.

"Natural" is an _odd _description for mineral oil, it is derived from petroleum, i.e. crude oil, just like gasoline.




> Most often, mineral oil is a liquid by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude oil. A mineral oil in this sense is a transparent, colorless oil composed mainly of alkanes and cyclic paraffins, related to petroleum jelly (also known as "white petrolatum").
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

> Here's something to ponder.
> My uncle, who has kept bees (up to 75 hives) for 30 years, (yes 30 years) uses FGMO and a fogger as his only treatment. He has some of the most healthy looking bees and huge populations of them in each and every hive.


Have you considered that, over those 30 years, maybe he has developed a resistant strain through his own selection process? Maybe THAT accounts for as much of his success as the fogging does?

Just a thought.

This year for the first time I have introduced VSH into my hives. This year for the first time my mite counts are so low I am debating whether to treat during the brood break or maybe skip this year.


Rusty


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## allan (Jul 7, 2013)

besides fogging for varroa mite control how about sugar dusting does it work:s


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## honeyman46408 (Feb 14, 2003)

oldreliable said:


> First off why are you all knocking Don.!


If you think they are knocking Don you should have been here when Doc Rod (the guy that came up with fogging) was here


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Seems like in most of the cases the FGMO really comes into its own  when a bit of oil of wintergreeen, thyme, spearment, tea tree etc., is added. Of course you could dispense with the smoke and mirrors and just put in the essential oil. It may be a bit tricky to time things and hive conditions so you dont get _interesting_ tasting honey.


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## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

allan said:


> besides fogging for varroa mite control how about sugar dusting does it work:s


Sugar shakes and sugar dusting are the main tools in my arsenal and have really done right for me this season BUT this is my first season with VSH genetics in my hives. I do believe that has made a major difference. In years past I always needed an OA dribble at the end of the year to really knock the mites the rest of the way down. This year I am debating with myself about whether or not I need to do it at all. I may do half the hives and leave half the hives and see how they do.

As to knocking Don (the FatBeeMan)--no way, Jose! I really like his videos and a lot of what he has to say. I'm crazy about his no-drown feeders. No way I am knocking him. And he does also use OA vaporization. He's got vids on that method, too, and he sells the equipment you need to do it. But we have COPD in our household, so I won't chance it. I use the OA dribble instead.

JMO

Rusty


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Rusty,
I could see your point if he indeed had somehow developed a mite resistant strain, but most of his bees are swarms when he began. Mutts mostly I assume. He is a farmer and does very little to his hives other than treat in Sept.
Some swarms he does still keep to add to his apiary... still fogs them in Sept.


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## oldreliable (Jan 29, 2011)

just curious and found this quote on Wikipedia
Certain mineral oils are used in livestock vaccines, as an adjuvant to stimulate a cell-mediated immune response to the vaccinating agent. In the poultry industry, plain mineral oil can also be swabbed onto the feet of chickens infected with scaly mites on the shank, toes, and webs. Mineral oil suffocates these tiny parasites. _In beekeeping, food grade mineral oil saturated paper napkins placed in hives are used as a treatment for tracheal and other mites. It is also used along with a cotton swab to remove un-shed skin on reptiles such as lizards and snakes._


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?283157-Started-fogging-today&highlight=fgmo

Sounds to me like it doesn't work.

If you watch Fatbeeman's video on OA sounds like he prefers OA and it is a new treatment for him. I bet he quits fogging.


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## Haz2treb (Jul 23, 2017)

Katharina said:


> Talked to the Oregon State entomologist who does research in honey bees. He said does work well at all, but he referred me to a beekeeper that has lot of experience in it and did it for year. That beekeeper stopped doing so. He said it was a lot of work, plus his foggers went up into flames a couple of times. Not a nice thing when that happens. He also stated that there are much better products out now. All of them beat the fogging.



like what KIND of products....?


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## Tigger19687 (Dec 27, 2014)

Haz2treb said:


> like what KIND of products....?


Please look at the DATE of the posts you reply to. This is from 2013


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