Because of Thyme

Thymol is an organic compound which occurs mainly in the volatile oils of Thymus vulgaris, common thyme . It is then found in copious amount in oils of thyme, and horsemint for example. It is then extracted as a white crystalline substance of pleasant aromatic odor. However, it is very common in many other plant tissues in lower quantity.Thymol does not help the plant to grow per se, but plays an important role in its defense against predators by producing a "poison" like substance that repels enemies.

It was discovered by Caspar Neumann

in 1719, and was later purified in 1853 by M. Lallemand who gave it the name "Thymol".

It has been found to be an antiseptic and disinfectant; used by Dr. Lister during surgeries. He experimented with many naturally occurring compound to settled on thymol which seemed to stop an infection, heal a wound and mostly save a limb and ultimately saved lives. Dr. Lister had been influence by the observations of Pasteur and thus became the "inventor" of antiseptic surgery. That little simple plant was now known to kill bacteria and fungi. That was a revolutionary idea in 1860!

In the literature many examples of the thymol properties can be found. Ancient Egyptians, during the Bronze Age period used thymol in the form of a preparation extracted from the common thyme, the herb that we use today, because of its known ability to preserve mummies.

In North America, many centuries later... Bee Balms (Monarda fistulosa and Monarda didyma) were scattered throughout the continent. The Blackfeet Native Americans knew of the special properties of this "common" plant as a strong antiseptic. They would simply make a poultice using the plant and they would apply it to the skin to control minor wounds and infections. Even today in herbal books, recipes of tea made with Bee balms can be found, and it is used to treat mouth and throat infections.

Another interesting usage of thymol was its use in bookbinding: before rebinding an old book which had mold damaged, the book was placed in a sealed bag with some thymol crystals to kill any fungal spores. This technique is still used today.

The latest that interest beekeepers the most is the recent discovery of thymol usage to control Varroa mites and prevent fermentation and growth of mold in colonies.

Thymol is the active ingredient in the only 100% botanical disinfectant with an EPA registration number (#74771-1). The EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, is the U.S. government agency that regulates chemical products such as insecticides and pesticides. The EPA is responsible for registering the tested effectiveness and classifying the safety of each product for use for both the consumer and the environment. Before an insecticide, pesticide (disinfectant) may be sold; it must be registered and approved by the EPA for kill claims and safety.

With all this history, and anecdotes regarding thymol, I hope this natural medication is going to save my honey bees.

The Honey Bees Report!

Photo: Chris Higgins

Honey bees in pumpkin flower in Arizona

Shakopee Apiary:

The field has a lot to offer to our bees, they seem to take advantage of the nice weather and the vegetables.

The Italian Purple colony is doing awesome! The first super is almost full.We added a second one, to gather more honey. This means, we will have honey this year! We did not do a full inspection, just looked to see if we could see

eggs , and we closed it up again. Sweet and simple.

The Carniolan Green colony is a bit weak. It has a small population with only 2 large boxes. I had discovered few days earlier that they had some mites. Varroa mites, to be exact. In order to treat the bees, the pail of sugary syrup was removed. The medication used is based on extract of thyme, and to be fully efficient, the beehive has to be as closed up as possible. Therefore Ben cut a thin wooden board to close the bottom of the beehive. We then plugged both circled openings in each box; leaving the large bottom entrance open for the bees to come and go as they please. I placed the little tray of thymol near the brood which will be slowly released throughout the hive. It will be on for 2 weeks. The a second tray will be added to complete the treatment. We have decided to treat our bees now rather than later for 2 main reasons: This medication works best during hot, warm days; and we will not harvest honey from this colony. Otherwise it is best to use thymol after the honey harvest in the Fall.

Chanhassen Apiary:

Both colonies seem fine. The honey bees are buzzing around, bringing in nectar. However the supers on both colonies are not drawn out yet. I think that they have to pick up the pace a little! We thought that the swarmed colony with the old queen, was not draining well after the rains; so Ben inclined the whole colony by placing few shims under the entire beehive.

Ben spotted both queens, so I "painted" their thorax with a little blue paint, this year international color. I grabbed the queen as delicately as I could with my bare fingers, and with a toothpick dipped in blue paint I applied a few drops...not an easy task...especially for the first time. After dabbing the queen, she was placed in a closed hair roller to dry. I cannot say that I am like Picasso, as I put a little bit of paint on their heads, and plenty on my fingers. But it is a first for sure. Sorry no pictures this week, I had forgotten my camera. Next time we should be able to spot both queens better.

The Pumpkins and the Honey Bees: Their Story

I am often asked why insects are so important to our food supply, and why honey bees in particular. This is a story.

All cucurbits ( squash, melon, gourd, pumpkin, and cucumber...) are warm season crops. It means that they grow best during hot weather and do not tolerate frost. Pumpkins and squashes grow best at temperatures ranging from 75-78F (23-29C) during the day and 60-70F (15-21C) at night.

Cucurbits are monoecious plants: It means that each plant produces both male and female flowers. Is it not great? Normally, few male flowers form before female flowers develop. What I found absolutely fascinating is that depending on the temperature a male or a female blossom will appear. When it is cool about 70F (22C), most pumpkins and squashes cultivars will produce male flowers. However, male flowers do not produce any fruit. But(!) without male flowers to provide the pollen ; female flowers by themselves do not produce any fruit either.

This is where the honey bees get involved, and are part of the wonderful world of pollination. Bees are an essential part of the production of all vine crops. Wild bees and other insects are usually sufficient to pollinate a small field, less than one acre (0.40 Hectare). If the fields is more than one or 2 acres (0.8 Hectare), having beehives is very helpful. As a rule, 1 colony of honey bees is sufficient to pollinate 2-3 acres (0.8- 1.2 Hectare) of pumpkins or squashes.

Blossom density for squashes and pumpkins is low. Therefore these crops are not very attractive to bees, because each flower has to be visited at least 15 times for a complete pollination. Incomplete pollination results in misshapen and smaller fruits.

Female blossoms are short-lived, about 24 hours. Female blossoms of pumpkins and squashes open first thing in the morning, and closes few hours later. The flower will never reopen again; if they are not pollinated, they abort and fall off the plant. The flower is open from 10:00 am to about 3:00pm, coincidentally this is also when the honey bees are in force foraging!

In order to "make" a fruit then, the honey bee has to visit the male flower, and then pay a visit to the female flower 15 times before pollination takes place! Fortunately, when honey bees set their eyes on one type of flower in the morning as they emerge from the hive, they will go back and forth to the same flower that day. Just as Nature had intended!

Male and female pumpkin flowers

Pumpkins leaves and vines emerging

Pumpkin blossoms Growing fruit

Pumpkins in field

All is Quiet on the Honey Bees Front

It is nice to report that everything looks good at both apiaries... I hope that I am not jinxing myself!

In Chanhassen:

The original colony with its new queen: The hive was calm, and healthy. The new queen had laid her first eggs! So nature did work. She had taken her mating flight and came back home. What a relief that nothing happen to her during that crucial period of her life. Long Live our Queen! Since the hive was doing so well, some frames weigh about a pound or more. It was time to add one super for the surplus honey.

The swarm colony with the old queen, (I should say with the original queen), is back to normal. She is laying eggs beautifully in a solid and uniform pattern. We hope she is happy and will stay home. The workers had collected a lot of nectar, and we also placed one super on top of the 2 big boxes.

In Shakopee:

The Green Italian congregation is doing fantastically. When we opened the cover, we could smell the sweet honey...no kidding. Each frames were a struggle to lift; they are so heavy, full of nectar, brood and honey. We had had a lot of heavy downpours in the past week, and I noticed that at the bottom of the hive, some water had collected. Ben inclined the whole colony by placing some rocks under it. We hope that will help with drainage. This is one thing that the bees hate the most... being damp.

The Purple hive of Carniolian honey bees, has done a wonderful job of drawing their combs since last inspection. However they still have some room in their 2- deep hive bodies. Therefore no addition of space was necessary yet. To encourage them to " finish" drawing , we placed a one gallon pail of 1:1 syrup. The Varroa mites are still present, I am still waiting for the Thymol to be delivered.

I am very happy to report that finally, there are plants in the fields that are blooming..... lots of pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, a patch of strawberries. And of course greens and onions. Not a bad diet for the honey bees!

All is Calm ...but trepidation is in the Air

We did a full inspection on all our colonies, 3 days after the second swarm, on July 7th. At both apiaries all seem back to normal. These swarming episodes are a bit stressful. They becomes puzzles for our minds to solve, as we eliminate probable explanations. Ben and I concluded that: we have no explanation as why the honey bees swarmed based on our knowledge. The colony had enough food, or space and was healthy with lots of brood and bees. Even the "Supreme" Honey bee expert from the University of Minnesota, agreed with our conclusion "Sounds like your swarmy colony "feels" like they don't have enough space. But swarming also is a genetic tendency so maybe there is nothing you can do. " At this point, I feel that beekeeping is more an Art than a Science per se!

On the picture above taken the next day after Ben captured the swarm in Chanhassen ; we can see few honey bees left on the branch. They usually come back to the exact spot where they swarmed with their queen. They are still attracted to the branch because even if the queen is not there anymore , her pheromone is still present. Eventually all honey bees will go back to the hive to their queen. We observed just that few days later.

Here is our report!

In Chanhassen: The swarmed colony with its old queen was back to normal, laying eggs and collecting pollen and nectar. We have decided to keep it as a 2-deep body hive instead of 3. We will add a super (smaller box) to collect any surplus honey.

The original colony with its new queen shows some hope. The queen was still in the

hive, otherwise the bee population would have been gone in the wild. However, since she was born on June 29; the earliest we will be able to see eggs would be around July 13 or 14! Our fingers are crossed !

In Shakopee: The purple colony was noisy and the population heavy. There were so many honeybees that the hive body was overflowing.

The colony looked very healthy, and eggs were present. However, we did not locate the queen. The honeybees were so busy, that we decided to add two supers for honey collection later.

The green beehive was very calm, and quiet. We could also noticed that the population seemed low a total contrast compared to the purple one. This colony has still only 2 deep hive boxes and plenty of space. I can also say that I saw few honey bees with damaged wings or wingless, a sign of Varroa mites, a bad bee disease. I will treat the ailment with Thymol, a natural product found in thyme! More on that later.

Overall, Ben and I are happy with our honey bees...however they keep us on our toes!

Got a Call Again!

We received a call yesterday night! The swarmed colony had swarmed yet again. I could not believe my ears! We jumped in our gears and went to the Chanhassen apiary, and were "welcomed" by the whole family who had gathered for the 4th. of July. The cutest of all was the little girl with the green "froggy" boots :) who showed us exactly were the honey bees were. Thank you!

Yes, the colony that Ben had retrieved 4 days ago, had done it again. We had to hurry a little as the sun was setting, it was already 8:05 pm.

This time the swarm had found a comfortable spot on the lower branch of a small tree. We approached carefully. The sound was soft and actually soothing... after all they were with their queen.

Again we proceeded like last time. However, since the swarm was at chest level and relatively smaller, no ladder or saw were needed. We simply placed a box with 4 out 10 frames removed. Then with one big "shake" most of the honey bees ended up in the box. In the meantime we inspected the swarmed colony... very noisy, no eggs, and no larvae but 8-10 queen cells had been built; we removed them promptly.

The Dilemma: Why did a brand new queen flew away with some workers? If there were other queens in the hive, why did she not fight and killed them? She was the first born, she WAS the queen. And to add to the mystery, there is ample room for everyone. So no "need" to move out! Ventilation is also adequate. However, obviously "something" is triggering their instinct to swarm.

Since, we had to wait for the majority of swarmed honey bees to get into the box under the tree. We inspected the second hive, the one with the original queen. I SAW eggs! She is laying again and should be back on track.

At this point, we were dripping sweat over the poor bees... it was 87 degree F and extremely humid. But both inspections were done, the sun was very low, the light was dimmer, and we still had to take the box full of honey bees and their queen, walk over the apiary 25 feet away, and put the bees back were they came from. And we did as the last few rays of light could be seen on the horizon. We had done it again.

I guess we are starting to be "experts" at retrieving swarms! However, this is not a game. We need to understand why our honey bees feel the urge to swarm. They have enough room in their hive, and they have a brand new young queen. What's the matter with them? I hope this is not a habit!

However, swarming many times in a row seems to be "normal" , and this phenomenon is not well understood. From the literature that we have been reading it could happen yet again. Actually, it is a sign of a healthy colony. They swarm to "create" a new family, increasing their chance of survival. But for us beekeepers it means jeopardising the survival of our "managed" colonies, and of course having less honey. In Minnesota, it is difficult for a smaller bee population to go into the winter months, and trying to survive and be healthy and strong next spring. This is our worry, right now: Not having a strong populous colony in the fall.

We asked for advice and at the moment we are waiting. We will visit the apiary again today, to make sure the second swarm stayed put, and are not back in the tree.

Happy 4th. of July! Celebrate with HONEY!

Celebrate with Honey!

This is a recipes taken from "Honey Recipes 2010, American Beekeeping Federation". Best show award-Cooking with Honey Contest, AFB Convention 2010. Carol Shaw.

Gourmet HONEY Mint Chocolate Fudge

2 (10 oz.) bags Hershey's Mint Chocolate chips

1 (14 oz. ) can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup HONEY

1 tsp. vanilla

Line a 8"x8" or 9"x9" pan with foil. Lightly butter foil. Melt chips, sweetened condensed milk, and HONEY in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly. When melted and smooth, remove from heat and stir vanilla.

Spread into foil lined pan. Cool and cut into squares. Store in a cool place. On hot days, cover pan with waxed paper and cool in refrigerator.

Some of my fellow hobby beekeeper love to bake, and thus bring treat at our monthly MN Hobby Beekeepers Association meeting. I had a few pieces...it was really good. Enjoy!

The New "Swarm" Hive Built at Last

Picture: Honey bees having a feast!

July 1st. 2010 We had to wait for the afternoon to show up! It is always better to visit a colony when most honeybees are away foraging...it means less bees at home for us to disrupt; and that's a good thing.

We had a simple job to do....lots of manipulation but simple.

The "swarm" colony (the one that was in the tree!) consists now of a portion (maybe 30%) of the original honeybees from the Chanhassen green hive and their original Queen. We reversed the bottom box with the second, encouraging brood rearing. We will have to rotated the upper box entrance 180 degree, orienting all the entrances towards the East, but we have to wait until sunset when most bees are home. Then we placed the inner cover, added a pail of sugar 1:1. The sugar is necessary because the top box is brand new, with 10 new frames. The honey bees will have to work hard to "make" wax, in order for the queen to lay eggs properly and efficiently. We put a third box over the pail to protect it, and at last the brand new white painted cover. Ben will build a new hive stand this weekend! I hope!

For the original colony (the one who has a brand new young queen), on top of the 2 large hive bodies, we added a third and last large box which is the standard way of doing things in Minnesota the first year. We also gave them a pail with 1:1 sugar because the third white box is new, with 10 new frames. And again the bees will have to work to draw the combs, then the young queen will be able to lay eggs. This is the "Plan" for the Chanhassen Apiary.

So Many Beekeepers...So Many Advice...

So we thought we were done with our day, by setting up 2 colonies. We had used a makeshift board, and an extra deep hive body that we did not use yet. However, we did not have enough hardware to build another colony. Therefore when we got home at 4:00pm, exhausted, thirsty and hot; we called our supplier/ old time beekeeper and he told us that we did not have to come to Stillwater to get more supply! We were astonished... to say the least. He told us that there was another technique to raise honey bees that could work as well.

It was very simple! Stacking the two colonies on top of each other, with entrances in opposite direction and separated in the middle with a piece of cardboard...no need for new equipment!

It was already 5:00pm, we had to go back to the apiary again! To stack everything. We were finally done. The puzzle was solved...So we thought!

I was concerned about that setting and was not convinced from all the readings I had done previously that it could be the best. We took the time to read about it some more. It was feasible but it involved a greater chance to loose both colonies during winter. We decided that we did not want to risk both colonies. I asked for another piece of advice!

This time it was Dr. Spivak speaking: "Well.... I would have hived the swarm in its own box and let them build up. There is a 50% or greater chance they would have made it through winter.

I don't like these fancy manipulations as you have done... chances of messing up both boxes are high. If they were my bees, I would separate the boxes and have two colonies on separate hive stands."

Hey...I asked...she gave me her best opinion!

Here we go again, 2:00pm June 30th., one day after Ben had bravely captured the swarm from the tree, back at the apiary...separating the hives on more time!!! Now we really had to go to Stillwater to purchase a "proper" beehive for our brand new family! Ben drove in traffic both ways. He came back with the new equipment...it was now 7:30 pm. We still had to paint the telescopic cover (3 coats!!!) and assemble some boxes!

It was about 10:00pm, when we packed the car with all our gears...it was time to hit the sack! What a day it had been! We can't make that story up!