I went to get my daughter birthday cake today and seen a herble health store next door, they had a cabinet with nothing but essential oils in it, I got to looking through it and seen Cinnamon oil, Eucalypt oil, Pepperment oil, Rosemary oil and Tea Tree oil. they said they could get any kind I wanted by just ordering it, what kind of oild do some feed in spring sugar syrup and what kind do yall use to make swarm lures? trhis stuff cost, 10-40 dollars for little bottles, couldn't have been 1 or 2 onces.
I use lemon grass for swarm lure and wintergreen to control mites. Both appear to help tremendously for me. If you want a cheap source for these oils Ted, PM me and I will gladly pass it on.
I believe Honey-B-Healthy uses lemongrass & spearmint. Here is the PDF file that I think I used to come up with my version of the recipe http://www.bee-commerce.com/download/hbhRetailInfoSheet.pdf
You need to use an emulsifier to get the oil to dissolve in the sugar water. I used powdered lecithin that you can buy at the health food store (don't buy the liquid gel caps)
I would suggest contacting latebee for his source, as there are much cheaper sources than you mentioned. I don't use then anymore, so don't have a source handy. But I did find an essential oil dealer on eBay that I was very happy with (price, quality, & service).
another give me a source for the wintergreen
http://www.wildroots.com/index.php
now im looking for the spearmint and lemon grass.
found all of them on that site
http://www.wildroots.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=spearmint&x=0&y=0
http://www.wildroots.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=lemongrass&osCsid=f05e1c18a933ab8e81cc582925712289&x=9&y=10
So, how do you use the Lemongrass oil?
Do you spray the hive, and if so, what do you use to stretch out 4oz of lemon grass oil?
I think they use lemon grass oil for catching swarms, some of the other can clear that up, If thats what your talking about admiral, sorry, I have always heard essential oils help bee's, here a site on it
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ipm/insects/pollinat/varroa/varroa2.htm#Essential
Good question...I would also like to know how they use lemon grass oil to capture a swarm...sounds like it might be something i'd like to try next year but clueless..
thanks! :roll: