Does anyone uses honey-B-Healthy

[tom]

Howdy

  I was wondering if anyone on here uses honey-b- healthy on ther hives for winter feeding to there hives and what is it supose to do for your hives. I also was told that fumagilin-B will make bees work harder and increase honey production this was told to me by the bee inspector he said it done all of this for his hives so i am asking you guy's whats your advice on these two products.

Tom

[kensfarm]

I use the honey-b-healthy because it was recommended by the beekeepers I initially bought my nucs from..  I've never had any sugar water mold.. even after weeks on the hive.    

"HONEY-B-HEALTHY is a honeybee feeding stimulant composed of lemongrass and spearmint oil concentrate. HONEY-B-HEALTHY helps promote healthy vigorous hives when used as a feeding stimulant. Use as a feeding stimulant for late winter, early spring, and during dearth's of nectar. Also add to your feeding mix to help build up packages, nucs and swarms. "


This is a interesting site..  West Virginia University Horticulture Farm

Organic Treatments For Parasitic Mites And Pathogens In Honey Bees!

http://rnoel.50megs.com

[TaoAndThen]

Tom

When I installed my first package of bees this year, I used a hive-top feeder, but the bees didn't take to it. I later read that this is common for a new package. Fortunately, I had added the essential oils and had NO mold in the sugar syrup.

I read that Honey-B-Healthy is equal parts lemongrass and either spearmint or wintergreen, with one teaspoon to be added to each quart of syrup. Better Bee has essentials oils at reasonable prices under the Soapmaking heading. Purchasing in bulk this way costs more upfront but lasts longer and allows me to use the oils seperately in other recipes.

Amy

[Zoot]

I have taken to using it (just a small dash or 2) in a bucket of cleaning fluid around the house. We have a beagle who has never submitted to being housebroken (typical beagle) and, interestingly, the scent of the added oils has worked as an excellent repellent - she never urinates in the house now.

On occasion I've fed it to my bees too. In syrup.

[Brian D. Bray]

If it worked so well housetraining your dog does using it on the bees mean you had to build them an outhouse?  :D

[Zoot]

Alas, no. All they're getting from me this year is the batch of slatted racks and dovetailed boxes I made them. Maybe next spring......

[latebee]

Tom, I use fumigilin every fall,it is an aid in preventing nosema disease in honeybees. It is the only medication I know of that is manufactured specifically for bees, and only bees. I started using it in my second year of beekeeping because I lost my first (feral) colony during the winter to nosema or dystentery, and figured the fumigilin to be a justifiable cost,kind of like an insurance policy._________                If you check previous posts--Robo--has kindly offered a formula for an essential oil mixture(kinda, sorta, like honey b healthy) you add to sugar syrup. I use this for packages and splits,this recipe suits me just fine. Getting back to fumigilin, it is a proactive med that you use before any indicators of nosema are present. The hallmark indicator of nosema would be many,many spots of bee excrement all over the inside of the hive and inner cover.I do not like using any meds or chemicals at all--but if they are needed,I take the cure. Even if it is only temporary.

[tom]

Hello

   I was told my the bee inspector that fumagilin also helps the bees to gather more nector and increase the yeilds of honey production in hives. I also would like to know the reciepe for the home made honey- B- healthy so i can go to the local herb store and purchase some to feed to my hives before the frost comes which last year we did not get it till march. And it stayed warm till after december my hives are all working good as if they have found a huge fall flow somewhere they are now bringing in a redish orange pollen and i reduce my second hive back to a single body they never moves up into the super so i will be wintering two hives in singles and may have to do my first hive the same they ahve taken all the honey from the second chamber and there is nothing but comb.

Tom

[Brian D. Bray]

Proper ventilation will make treating for nosema (dysentery) unnecessary.  Nosema, like chalkbrood, is a result of too much moisture within the hive at lower temperatures.  It's essentially the same as bees catching pneumonia.  Proper ventilation cures a lot of ills (and some parasites).

[Dick Allen]

Nosema and dysentery often do go hand in hand. They are not one and the same, though. Nosema is caused by the parasite Nosema apis. Dysentery is sometimes caused by too much moisture. When dysentery occurs within a hive infected by Nosema it usually does spread with devastating results. Both Nosema and dysentery can occur separately. Nosema is often not caught by some beekeepers. It can result in poor spring buildup without signs of dysentery.

[qa33010]

tom,

Here's an old post from Michael Bush.  I used it and will continue to use it every spring.  They love it!  Make sure you read the directions through before you start so you get it right.  The licithin disolves better for me if I use a whisk.

From an old beesource entry:

" 'Honey Bee Healthy' Recipe
5 cups water
2 1/2 pounds of sugar
15 drops each of spearmint and lemongrass oils
1/8 teaspoon lecithin granules
You have to dissolve the granules in very hot (almost boiling) water and let it cool prior to incorporating the oils into the mixture. The lecithin is an emulsifier and helps disperse the oils in the water mixture. This is the standard recipe according to a website article I read about using essential oils, and these are the two oils used in the HBH. I use less of the oils than the recipe calls for since I am feeding fairly heavily at this time, but for a spring or fall treatment, I will follow these measurements.
Essential Oils:

LorAnn Oils
4518 Aurelius Road
P.O. Box 22009
Lansing, Michigan 48909
(517) 882-0215
or toll free
1-800 248-1302
or by fax
(517) 882-0507
The last I purchased was Spearmint oil 1 ounce for $3.99
Be sure to mention that you are a Beekeeper to get the cheaper prices.
They seem to have it all in stock and a lot of great info on the oils used for beekeeping
Clint"

--------------------
Michael Bush
www.bushfarms.com

"Everything works if you let it."

[latebee]

Tom,
 I use the same recipe just posted by qa33010 in the previous post and the bees devour it. Good luck!