# Herbs in the Hive



## NickSloan (Feb 20, 2014)

I was thinking about growing a bunch of spearmint which contains menthol naturally, and thyme which contains thymol.
If you were to just throw the plant matter in the top of the hive and let them work away at carrying it out would this not be a very gentle natural way of warding off pests with no harm to the bees? It is relatively cheap and easy (I don't know about thyme, but mint grows like a weed)
I know that in a way this a treatment  but heck putting them in a box isn't exactly natural either, and here in canada we have no choice... if you don't treat your bees they die. I am just trying to find a natural way
Has anyone tried anything like this?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I could always visualize the ballpark disparity but JWChestnut posted the math once...
http://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-293315.html

It goes like this:

Commercial Thymol wafers have 12.5 to 15 grams of thymol per treatment dose. (1)

Solvent extraction of raw thyme with ethanol at a heated 60 C yields 0.007 grams of thymol per gram of leaf material.

12.5 grams of thymol at full efficient extraction requires 1785 grams of material. For the kilogram challenged, that is 3.9 pounds of leaf. (2)

Raw leaf is not going to sublimate thymol vapor like a vermiculite wafer soaked in the essential oil, even if you could pack 4 pounds of the herb in the hive.

The spearmint would be similar...


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## NickSloan (Feb 20, 2014)

so pretty much a waste of time, and would annoy my bees, correct?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>so pretty much a waste of time, and would annoy my bees, correct? 

I wouldn't say it would annoy them, they will just haul it out for trash. They are always hauling out the trash. It's just one more thing... but yes, I think it would be a waste of your time. From my point of view you're trying to solve a problem I don't have...


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## Beeonefarms (Nov 22, 2013)

Crazy thoughts early in the morning: Would allowing those plants to bloom, the pollen they provide, increase those chemicals into the food source or bee gut in a more natural way.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

NickSloan said:


> I was thinking about growing a bunch of spearmint which contains menthol naturally, and thyme which contains thymol.
> If you were to just throw the plant matter in the top of the hive and let them work away at carrying it out would this not be a very gentle natural way of warding off pests with no harm to the bees? It is relatively cheap and easy (I don't know about thyme, but mint grows like a weed)
> I know that in a way this a treatment  but heck putting them in a box isn't exactly natural either, and here in canada we have no choice... if you don't treat your bees they die. I am just trying to find a natural way
> Has anyone tried anything like this?


A. How is that not a treatment?
B. Why are you asking about treating in Treatment Free Beekeeping?
C. It doesn't work at all. It has been tried and doesn't work.


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## Pete O (Jul 13, 2013)

Just an advisory- you can't plant a patch of spearmint. Every year will expand, expand, and expand, eventually taking over very large areas. You have to be very careful with those square stem mint plants. Even potted, they will find a way to get into the ground. Bees love the flowers though.


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## Beeonefarms (Nov 22, 2013)

Beeonefarms said:


> Crazy thoughts early in the morning: Would allowing those plants to bloom, the pollen they provide, increase those chemicals into the food source or bee gut in a more natural way.


Has increasing or changing up the natural food source been tried with any success?


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